Jordan Poole holds a large part of the Warriors’ future in his hands, even though he didn’t ask for it. When Draymond Green was offended by something Poole did or said, it was transferred to him, charging Poole and punching him in practice on Wednesday.
Poole did not volunteer for it. The Warriors fourth-year guard was known to be having a normal training camp practice with Draymond, pushing Draymond when he was charged and then getting a one-punch tie. It’s all in the video, acquired by TMZ and released Friday morning.
But Poole didn’t back down from that incident. And knowing him, in the days of the Warriors dynasty expanding, he probably won’t back down from this inevitable moment either. Poole played such an important role in last season’s title race that he has credibility. He also gets a lot of verbal enthusiasm from veterans and thrives. He occasionally snapped back, but he used his rhetorical backbone constructively. Every time he walked into the media room, he joked that he would only speak for 90 seconds, feigning disgust from the podium; but he always stayed longer, more and more thoughtful about his answers, and sometimes seemed very like.