Steve Kerr explains whether Jordan Poole’s success impacts Klay Thompson

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Kerr explains whether Poole’s recent success impacts Klay originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

Jordan Poole’s role for the Warriors has shifted dramatically this season.

After joining a squad with already-established NBA superstars in 2019, fitting into the rotation for Poole was a challenge.

In his rookie season, the Warriors not only missed their chance at their sixth consecutive NBA Finals appearance, but they also finished the season with the worst record in the league (15-50).

It wasn’t Poole’s fault, but it was certainly a confusing time for the young guard and the Warriors.

Two years later, JP’s role has gone from a big question mark to what appears now to be the missing puzzle piece to this Warriors team.

And after Poole led a completely undermanned Warriors team, who was playing without Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Otto Porter Jr. and James Wiseman, to a 118-104 stunner over the Miami Heat on Wednesday night, Poole’s role became perfectly clear.

The Warriors are a better team when Jordan Poole is effective on both ends of the floor. But what does that mean for Thompson?

“The challenge is for the group to come together and realize who we are, what our identity is, what does that mean offensively,” Kerr said on 95.7 The Game. “We need both those guys. We need Jordan creating shots, we need Klay on the backside of plays knocking down open shots and playing defense.

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“If we can really tighten some things up here over the last nine games, then I feel great going into the playoffs having Jordan and Klay along with the rest of our guys. It’s not a matter of one guy playing more minutes or getting more shots, it’s about our team playing together and figuring that out.”

With his game-high 30 points in Miami on Wednesday, Poole joined some great company. He has now scored 20 or more points in 11 straight games, joining Steph, Kevin Durant and David Lee as the only Dubs players to achieve that in the past decade.

“He’s made so much progress,” Kerr said. “It’s great to see. We suffered through that season two years ago where we had the worst record in the league. The silver lining was that Jordan had to play a ton, and frankly he wasn’t really ready. But you look back at it now and you say alright well I’m glad we gave him those minutes because it does take players time to adjust to the speed of the game, and to figure out their place in it and where they can get shots, where they can attack, that sort of thing.”

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In his first season in the league, Poole averaged just 8.8 points per game. The following season, he improved across the boards and averaged 12.0 points.

Poole is now averaging 17.6 points, 2.7 assists and 2.4 rebounds off the bench this season. And in times where Golden State was short-handed due to injuries, which has been several times this season, JP has been the guy the Dubs can depend on.

“Jordan has earned all of this for sure,” Kerr said. “When he had that tough rookie season that was shortened by the pandemic, he was the first guy in the gym when our facility opened back up, and he was there every day until the next season started. He’s earned this, he’s just worked, worked, worked, and put in all the time. Couldn’t be happier for him.”

Poole’s journey has been filled with highs and lows. But it appears his time is now, and it’s only up from here for the 22-year-old.

His confidence, swagger and hard work has paid off and put him in a position to really succeed on the court.

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“These things are hard to predict,” Kerr said. “Occasionally you get players at the top of the draft who pop immediately and you just realize ok this guy’s going to be an All-Star. It sort of works this way. It’s such a jump to go from college to the NBA and most players, it takes at least a year for them to really feel comfortable. I thought that was the case for Jordan. When he came back for his second season and had a good camp, but we still sent him to the G League bubble and he played about 15 games in Orlando and still had things to work on.

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“And frankly, he still does have things to work on but he’s gained his confidence. He’s gained his ability to understand where he can create shots, where his shots are going to come from. He’s now seeing double teams, I thought he was really good at getting the ball out of the double team last night and finding open guys. There’s a reason guys don’t come in and dominate the league right away. It takes time and it took Jordan some time but man what he’s doing now, nobody could’ve predicted a couple years ago.”

The Poole party is just beginning, and the Bay is ready for the wave.

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