Just rewatched [Matt Barnes sharing his thoughts (2:08)](https://youtu.be/N2nPTM-gOE8) on his time with the warriors. During the interview he mentions Draymomd’s huge impact on the warrior’s success and his sacrifice to be there. Curry’s and the team’s work ethic etc.
The part that stands out is when he describes what it means to play on a team with a lot of talented players. He emphasizes warriors culture of “all the egos were left outside the facility”.
Poole couldn’t wait to be HIM. It showed in his playing style and play-making (or lack of).
I’m sure if he waited out the legacy players, the org would’ve rallied behind him and given him the keys. That’s evident in the contract they offered.
This team is special because of the core principle and understanding that it’s a team sport. Poole was too focused on his performance vs the team. Even Curry wasn’t impervious to the importance of sticking to this core tenet. As shown this year when Curry would have an outstanding game but ultimately resulted in a loss.
Lack of humility seems to be a generational issue. Ego’s are way more inflated among these young stars. With the exception of maybe Tatum, Zion and few others.
Hopefully the “I’m him” approach bodes well for Poole on a team that needs a leader but I also hope he eventually learns, generational talent and leadership aren’t always synonymous.
by wrldtravela
21 Comments
alternatively, the team failed to punish Draymond in any meaningful way for something that clearly deserved a punishment and Poole felt alienated from the rest of the team from that point forward.
I wish Poole the best. He’s a very fun player when he’s in the zone, but maybe isn’t quite at the point where this is the best team for him. But to pretend like he brought everything on himself is insane revisionism.
Or it could be said our coaching staff and team mentors are either not equipped to properly groom the younger talented players we drafted, or they simple don’t care. Either way it’s a same. I hope the new GM figures this out before we lose JK, MM and out newest draft picks.
Generational issue? Lmao.
Jordan and Pippen are two of the biggest ego assholes ever. They aren’t young kids.
How about Rick Barry?
💯
The new CBA is cost prohibitive and for team building with all the penalties
combine that with vibes and feels and we have it
all good, let’s go for 5 with cp3
The logic behind “Jordan Poole has an ego therefore lack of humility is a generational issue” is quite a jump. You even named some exceptions which contradicts your own conclusion. Ego varies from person to person player to player. Poole got his bag, took a hit to his pride/ego with the Dray punch and seemed like he phoned it in after maybe giving it a legit attempt. All is fair in love and war.
That lack of humility is what enabled him to grow from being a #28 pick who was absolutely terrible his first year to being a key contributor on a championship team.
I agree with most points, other than it being a generational thing to play selfishly. I’m millennial and we certainly had players that played for themselves over their team.
I hope he learns from this and proves everyone wrong. We were all young and dumb, so there is still time but hopefully he learns and grows up.
This is what happens when you coddle children. They turn into soft, useless adults.
“BuT dRaYmOnD pUnChEd hIm!”
Yeah Draymond punched him. We hear rumors but nobody can confirm exactly the reason. Regardless, he probably deserved it. Draymond is a hot head and we all know it. But he hasn’t punched anyone else on the team. Past or present.
Michael Jordan also punched Steve Kerr. Did Kerr pout all season? No. He knew why he was punched and dealt with it like a grown man. Jordan Poole acted like a toddler who got his favorite toy taken away. All season long. Good riddance.
It’s ironic that the need to be “him” ends up exposing most of these young players as NOT “him” lol.
Poole had to go bc the team couldn’t afford both and the team did what they did since the punch first happened—choose Draymond, as if karma isn’t a thing.
Poole is a super fun player to watch but ultimately he plays a losing brand of basketball.
He’s the anti-Draymond. Draymond does a bunch of little shit that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet that lead to winning.
Poole does a bunch of little shit that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet that lead to losing.
Moving on was the right choice.
I could see your point but Tatum and Zion are different because they were handed the keys to be the main guy so what can they be upset about?
None of us will ever know the full story but it seems to me that there is plenty of blame to spread around. In the end, even without the punch, I don’t think they win the chip and these trades still could’ve happened. Org thought Curry would be on his retirement tour by now and drafted Wiseman, Poole, and the other young guys to plan for that. Once it became clear that Curry’s prime is still going, these trades seemed inevitable. Two timelines sorta make sense if you have a star in their waining years. It doesn’t make sense when you’ve got a generational talent still in their prime. At that point you go all in because you’re not getting another Curry anytime soon.
Dray hit him to hard got PTSD it was a wrap
What does this “I am him” shit even mean really?
Why do we need to continue with these posts………..???
How was Steph exactly not following the whole ego less thing? By scoring a lot even if it meant we lost? The 2 50 point games we lost werent cause steph was being egoistic or he was selfish. Its cause the team was so ass that Steph doing a historic carry job still isnt enough to carry these bums. Steph literally embodies ego-less basketball and team play. He is literally the one who sets that tone. How do warriors fans continously sneak diss curry and just get away with it?
You lost me at Matt Barnes
I don’t buy the ego thing at all. Draymond has more ego than the entire team combined.
– He threw a punch because Poole hurt his ego.
– He doesn’t get along with KD and others because of his ego.
– The podcast itself is a reflection of his ego.
– The ejections, techs, and stupid is his ego