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Jordan Poole is not one of the finalists for the Most Improved Player award and Draymond Green wasn't having it. He stated that he intends to start a petition on 'Change.org' to rename the awards because the media doesn't accurately pick the nominees.
Draymond Green was asked about the end-of-the-season award after practicing the day before Game 1 of the first round. He showed full support for his teammates while suggesting that the award selection process is flawed. He said:
"If Jordan Poole isn't the Most Improved Player, the NBA really needs to relook at their process. You cannot find a guy on that list who has made a bigger improvement. I don't care. If he's not the 'Most Improved Player,' then let's rename the award to who we see as more electrifying and who we see may have a bigger impact on their team. That's not the name of the award."
"So, if we're talking the ‘Most Improved Player' and the award was voted on based on his name, then it's a no brainer who is the Most Improved Player. I just fear these awards sometimes aren't voted on in junction with the name. That's the issue. That's probably why Jordan lost Most Improved Player."
Draymond Green believes that the media is more focused on if a player is electrifying and if they make the All-Star team rather than looking at their numbers. He continued:
"So if we're going off the name of the award, it's Jordan Poole. If it's not Jordan Poole, I'm starting a petition on Change.org to rename these awards. It's just not accurate."
Draymond Green praises the finalists while making a case for Jordan Poole's MIP candidacy
Draymond Green believes that other players deserved a consideration for the award but they haven't improved more than Poole. He stated that he is a huge fan of Miles Bridges, Ja Morant and Darius Garland but the media has overlooked the progress of Poole, who was a G-League player until last year. He continued:
"You get these ballots and are like, 'Oh man, Darius Garland is an All-Star. I am probably one of the biggest Darius Garland fans you'll meet. I'm a huge DG fan. Ja Morant is doing this. I'm a big Ja Morant fan. I like to see Ja Morant play. I like how he leads his squad. Incredible, but not the most improved player. Ja Morant was incredible last year."
"Miles Bridges, we all know I'm big fan of and it's natural. He's from Flint and from Michigan State. I'm always cheering for Miles. But I can't say Miles got much better than Jordan Poole or that his improvement was bigger than Jordan Poole's. Miles Bridges' improvement was huge and will probably get a max contract. He's well deserving of it."
Draymond Green mentioned that the finalists were excellent players last year as well and have elevated their game from role players to stars. He didn't bring up Dejounte Murray, though. He believes the award should go to the player who had the most impact on his team due to his improvement.
Draymond Green then made the case for Poole's MIP candidacy and said that he has earned himself a max contract on the Golden State Warriors. The third-year pro dropped just 30 points in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets and is arguably the second-best scorer on a team that is currently competing for a championship. Green continued:
"If you're going to talk about contracts, Jordan Poole is playing himself into that as well, right? He was the 28th pick, not playing and was in the G-League a year ago to date or almost. So if we're going off the name of the award, it's Jordan Poole."
Poole is not one of the finalists for the Most Improved Player award but can still get many fourth and fifth-place votes. He averaged 18.5 points per game from just 12 last season while his assists jumped from 1.9 to 4.0. He grabbed 1.6 more rebounds this season and shot 36% from three-point range. Moreover, he shot 88% from the charity stripe last year and is now leading the league in free-throw percentage at 92.5%.
Poole probably won't win the Most Improved Player award this season but is certainly on pace to earn his first-ever All-Star selection.
Guess the Lakers players!
