Warriors’ trade of Jordan Poole ‘tore something out of his heart,’ former coach says

Jordan Poole has hardly spoken of The Punch, but someone who knows him well believes the former Warrior is still struggling with the fallout.

Jim Gosz, who coached Poole in high school and remains in regular contact with him, also said being traded by the Warriors rocked the 24-year-old.

“When Jordan left San Francisco, I think that really tore something out of his heart,” Gosz said by phone last week.

As Poole prepares to lead the Washington Wizards (4-22) into Chase Center for a Friday night clash against his former team, much of the basketball world has wondered what has gone wrong for the youngster in the nation’s capital.

Poole remains an enigma, someone the franchise wants to build around but someone who continues to find himself in the news for unflattering incidents. Among them: forgetting that the game clock starts on an inbounds pass; disengaging from a team huddle while Coach Wes Unseld Jr. drew up a play; showboating on a layup that then was blocked; or most recently, committing a late-game turnover when he slipped on his own sweat.

In Washington, Poole is averaging 17.4 points per game, down from 20.4 last season. He is shooting 41.6 percent, down from 43.8 percent over the previous two seasons. From the arc, he is at 32.5 percent, down from 34.9 over the previous two seasons.

“I think he’s struggling a bit with the transition,” Gosz said. “He was so comfortable in Golden State and just loved it out there.”

Nobody has ever gone public with what precipitated the punch. Physically, Poole was OK. But damage was done.

“I don’t think anyone in his camp is going to admit it but when the incident took place with (Draymond) Green, that has to have a psychological effect on someone when your teammate is trying to take your career out,” Gosz said. “I can’t imagine bouncing back that quickly. I think he was really hurt. And you could see it in his play. It’s unfortunate.”

At Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, Poole was the model player, Gosz said. First in the gym, last one out. Kept his grades up. Volunteered to coach kids at summer camps and was one of the best at it. Never got in trouble. Never went out at night. Lived and breathed basketball.

He went to Michigan and was the same guy there, Michigan assistant Saddi Washington said in a phone interview earlier this year.

At Michigan, “everybody loved JP,” Washington said.

That Poole got drafted in the first round by the Warriors in 2019 was “divine intervention,” Washington said, because Poole was “surrounded by veterans who could keep him accountable. His style of play fits perfectly.”

The Punch might’ve changed things, though Poole never said so. He rarely spoke of it. Asked in May if it affected the way the season went for him and the Warriors, Poole said no.

Then, at the end of June, Green got a contract extension, a four-year, $100-million deal.

Seven days later, the Warriors traded Poole to the Wizards, ending his four-year run in San Francisco.

“I think the Warriors had to make a decision: is it Poole, or is it Green?” said Gosz, one of the winningest high school coaches in Wisconsin history. “Now look at what happened? They could surely use Jordan’s scoring… I think a lot of Golden State’s struggles are because of Jordan not being there. That’s a valuable piece they’re missing.

“I know he just loved his teammates, loved the team, loved the organization when he was there. To have him pick up and leave, I don’t care, that is going to have an effect on anybody.”

Gosz said he still talks to Poole regularly, texting during the season and seeing him in person whenever Poole returns to Milwaukee.

“He never dwelled on the fact he is going to Washington,” Gosz said. “It wasn’t like that. He told me, ‘One door closes and another door opens.’ That’s the mentality he’s looking at it with.

“This year is a tough year and they’re struggling. They don’t have the weapons the Warriors had. He’s in a completely different role. When the scouting plan comes to play the Wizards, No. 1 you have to shut down Poole. It was different with the Warriors.”

Passing judgment on Poole can be tricky; it changes by the hour. He’s a rare type of player who could elicit both of these headlines within a 24-hour period:

“Jordan Poole Fell Victim to Karma in Comical Fashion Moments After His Awful Flop Attempt,” wrote Sports Illustrated on Dec. 1.

“Jordan Poole is a bright spot,” wrote the Washington Post the very next day.

In October, Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett predicted Poole would have a breakout season. Less than a month later, speaking of the same guy, Garnett said: “He don’t belong in the league.”

Perhaps he’s just a 24-year-old who is still developing, still learning how to be “the guy” on an NBA team, still adjusting to being slugged in the face by a teammate and then getting traded across the country.

“I think it’s still affecting him, what happened with Green. He’ll never say it. But that was a heavy blow to him, mentally,” Gosz said. “He’ll bounce back. He’s going through some serious soul searching. He’s still a young kid.”