"He deserves that": Steve Kerr predicts warm welcome for Jordan Poole's return, honors his championship role

Jordan Poole’s tenure with the Golden State Warriors may not have ended on the best terms. However, Warriors coach Steve Kerr still anticipates that he will receive a warm welcome from Golden State fans upon his upcoming return to the Bay Area.

Poole’s Washington Wizards take on Golden State at the Chase Center on Friday, marking his first game against the Warriors since being traded this past offseason. He previously spent his first four seasons with Golden State, the franchise that drafted him at No. 28 in the 2019 NBA draft.

Poole had an up-and-down final season with Golden State last season, with many questioning his maturity. However, the 24-year-old played a key role off the bench during the Warriors’ 2022 NBA title run.

During an interview with 95.7 The Game’s “Willard and Dibs” on Wednesday, Kerr looked ahead to Poole’s return. According to the Warriors coach, Poole’s contributions to Golden State’s 2022 title should earn him a standing ovation on Friday.

“Well number one I’m excited for him because I know our fans are going to give him an enormous ovation,” Kerr said. “And he deserves that. He’s a champion. We don’t win that championship without Jordan. He played a huge role here. He's an unbelievable success story, 28th pick in the draft.

“He put in so much great work and turned himself into the player that he's become. Our fans, they recognize all of that, and so do all of our players and coaches, so we're going to welcome Jordan back with open arms on Friday, and we're excited to see him.”

Over four seasons with the Warriors, Poole averaged 15.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 0.7 steals and 2.2 3-pointers per game on 42.1% shooting.

During the 2022 playoffs, he averaged 17.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 3.8 apg, 0.8 spg and 2.3 3pg on 50.8% shooting over 22 games. His 17.0 ppg ranked third on the Warriors en route to their championship.

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Jordan Poole off to slow start with Wizards

When Jordan Poole was traded to the Wizards, many fans were excited to see what he could do in a featured offensive role. Some even suggested that he could average anywhere from 25.0 to 28.0 ppg as the team’s No. 1 option.

However, Poole has instead struggled with inconsistency and is averaging fewer points (17.4 ppg) than he did last season with Golden State (20.4 ppg). Meanwhile, the Wizards are tied for the second-worst record in the league (4-22).

It remains to be seen if Poole will be able to turn his first season in Washington around. However, so far, most would agree that he is not living up to the first year of his four-year, $128 million contract extension.

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