Jordan Poole believes the ceiling is high with Washington Wizards

For better or worse, everything was under a spotlight when Jordan Poole played for the Golden State Warriors. There was the high of winning the 2022 NBA championship. There was the low of his infamous practice fight with Draymond Green. And there were global eyes that came from playing with the NBA’s greatest shooter and one of sport’s greatest showmen in Stephen Curry.

Now, Poole is the face of the Washington Wizards and the team leader in scoring and assists in his second season with the franchise. But is anyone outside of Washington that is not a Wizards fan noticing? The young Wizards have the NBA’s worst record, are rebuilding, have not been to the playoffs since 2021 and have no presence on nationally televised games.

But the way Poole sees it, stay patient because change is coming to Washington.

“I’m coming from an organization where everything is under the spotlight. Like everything,” Poole, who was traded to the Wizards on July 2, 2023, after four seasons with Golden State, told Andscape. “Practice, travel, games, players. But the [opposing] players know me now. The [opposing] coaches definitely know me because the way I’m seeing coverages throughout the course of the game, they’re very aware of me.

“New environment, new situation. It’s only a matter of time before we put ourselves in that situation too, to be at the biggest stage as well. It’s what we’re grinding for.”

Poole, 25, is averaging career highs of 21.3 points, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game for Washington this season. The rebuilding Wizards, however, own the worst record in the NBA. The Wizards also have a long list of talented but inexperienced players who are 21 years old and younger — rookie Bub Carrington (19), Bilal Coulibaly (20), Kyshawn George (21), rookie A.J. Johnson (20), rookie and 2024 No. 2 pick Alex Sarr (19), JT Thor (21) and Tristan Vukcevic (21). Washington did add two veterans before the trade deadline in 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and three-time NBA All-Star Khris Middleton. The NBA Draft Lottery, not the NBA playoffs, is the next big event for Washington.

The following is a Q&A with Poole in which he talks about how he is evolving as the face of the franchise and leader under his trusted head coach Brian Keefe in Washington, the key to his individual success this season, how he has dealt with adversity in Washington, his love for cats and similarities to them, what he is learning from Smart and Middleton, why Wizards fans should have hope and much more.

You seem much more comfortable in Washington now as opposed to your first season. What has changed this season?

It was just a completely new environment. I’m such a unique person and a unique player that it just takes time for me to get acclimated and then for my teammates and coaches or whatnot to kind of get me acclimated as well. It took a little bit. But shout out to coach BK [Keefe] because he trusts me and he put me in a position where I could thrive. We talked about that as soon as he became coach. It’s been night and day.

What was the breakthrough that Keefe brought?

He just put me on ball. That’s pretty simple because I can be aggressive and I can score. But something underrated about my game is that I’m really a team player so I would get my guys easy shots and put them in a position to be successful. BK knows that. He told me that last year as soon as he took over the head coaching job. But it just took about a half a season or so with a new team, a new organization to kind get that figured out.

This season you’re leading the Wizards not only in scoring but assists as well. What has been the key to your success?

I keep playing my game, [a] bigger role that kind of allows me to throw my own style and offense, be aggressive but also play a little bit like Golden State where it’s random, a little freestyle, fast-paced. And it’s also making my other guys better because I’m putting confidence into them, letting them know I’m trusting them to make shots, to make plays, go play a game. I’m going to do my best to be aggressive. Me doing that is putting you in a position to be successful. We got a nice little vibe.

Do you miss the spotlight that came with playing at Golden State?

I was never a spotlight guy. Never cared for it. I just love to hoop. I love going out there and competing. But I’ve always risen to the occasion on the highest level, But I’ve been there. I kind of was there senior year in high school, freshman year of college, sophomore year of college, all of my years in Golden State. It’s cool to have a little bit of a [break] off of it. But honestly, I just like to hoop and then all of the other stuff will come with it. To be honest, my game would do the talking.

You’re only 25 years old, but you’re in a leadership role in Washington. What’s the key to leading right now?

Authenticity being genuine. Going out there throughout the course of every day being myself. I like talking to the guys. We have a really good group in here. Our chemistry is good. So, when you want see guys like belong — you want to see guys like Bilal, Alex, Bub, Corey and everybody just be successful — it brings a different energy to the room.

We got a really good group of guys. It’s more so playing with your homies and their friends out there as opposed to playing with co-workers or just teammates.

You were shown on video that went viral last season saying during a timeout, “It’s my team. I got this,” outside of the Wizards huddle during a timeout while then-head coach Wes Unseld Jr. was drawing up a play. It was early in your time with the Wizards and you received criticism for that. How were you able to move on from that with your teammates and get them to believe in you?

Everything’s a matter of time. I know what I’m capable of. I know the time I put in. I know how this stuff works and how it pans out. Everybody’s extremely thirsty to jump the gun or almost hit you with an, ‘I told you so,’ especially in today’s society. It just takes a little bit of delayed gratification. Things take time to get right, especially if you’re in a unique and new situation. So, I was never worried about that because now it’s panning out. And I think we got a vision now. So, I stand by what I said.

What is the future with the budding talent here?

The ceiling is high. We got a lot of guys in here who care, a lot of talented guys, a lot of guys who just love to hoop and they just love the game. And that goes a really long way and they’re young and they’re learning. What is helping them is that they’re getting a chance to do it in real time. They’re on the court, they’re going up against these matchups. They’re going up against KD [Kevin Durant]. They’re guarding James Harden night in and night out.

I was lucky enough to have that experience and I felt like it kind of sped up my process. I’m really excited for them. The coaches are doing a really good job of coaching us hard, teaching us the right way and not letting anything slide. It’s just a matter of time of just being locked in and letting everything take care of yourself.

Do you still have a fascination with cats?

I just love animals. I’ve always had cats and had cats growing up so people usually tend to run away with that.

How many you have now?

Three. I got some at home too, but my parents have two. My sister has two. When I was really young, I had a cat. So, I’ve kind of had it my entire life. I love dogs too and all other animals. It’s just that we’re on the road and we are gone through my basketball schedule AAU, Friday, Saturday, Sundays. It’s just a little bit less maintenance to take care of the cat than a dog.

How do you take care of cats when you’re on the road with the Wizards?

They got automatic feeders and automatic wheel box. And then we got people, family who will go check every couple of days. But it’s pretty easy. Right now, I have two Maine Coons and a silver Bengal. Pretty dope.

What’s cool about cats to you?

You got to earn your trust. It takes time. They have really big personalities, but they’re also like they do their thing and you do yours throughout the course of the house. It’s not like they’re in your face and lick you and jump in on you. They’ll come by, they’ll vibe, you pet them for a little bit, then they’re going to do their own thing. So, it’s cool. Very much independent.

Is that kind of your personality, too?

It takes time for me to trust things and trust people and I got to analyze and sit back. I’ll stay in the corner for a little bit and just observe over the course of time as things build, you come say, hey, you say what’s up, and then once you build that trust it’s just kind of like an unspoken bond that you have and everything else kind of takes care of yourself.

I’ve always been different. My game is different. My swag is different. My vibe is different, but it’s just me. It’s natural. I’m never going out of my way to do something that people want me to do. So very much alternative.

What would you say to DC fans about the future who are frustrated with the losing?

The ball is rolling. Snowball effect right now. It’ll take a little bit, but we got the right group, the right set up. We’re in a really good situation right now. We’re playing some fun basketball. It’s something going to be more competitive, better as we go.

What is important for this team to accomplish the rest of the season as well as for you individually?

For our team, I would say just finding ways to continue to get better. Try to play high-level basketball pretty consistently. We have a good vibe and chemistry growing with the group that we have. [We have to] just continue to learn from the veteran presence of Khris and Marcus and just try to continue to keep getting better and build our momentum.

What can you learn and what have you already learned from Marcus and Khris?

You can learn a ton of stuff. Those guys have been in the league for a really long time. They’ve played high-level basketball for a really long time. Just being able to pick their brains, whether that is on the court, whether that is off the court. Definitely with Marcus, just seeing how he looks at the game from a defensive perspective, being a Defensive Player of the Year at a guard, which is pretty challenging to do. And then Khris has got a championship. Seeing how he controls the game, how he sees the game, how he thinks the game. A lot of people learn from both of those guys and I’m just really excited to ask questions.

What are your thoughts of Washington as a city now that you’ve been here a couple of years and what would you recommend to do for visitors?

I’m definitely a big fan of the city. It’s pretty dope. There is a lot of stuff to do. The entire DMV, just in general. I don’t do much, especially during the season. I kind of just chill and stay at home. I’ll take walks. Sometimes I’ll do dinner here and there, but I would definitely suggest going to see a lot of the natural history monuments that are downtown. A lot of museums that they have. A lot of good food. A lot of good music. It’s just a lot of culture. But I would probably start with the museums.