The Washington Wizards have very little to play for this season, already occupying the No. 15 seed in the East with a 3-21 record. Jordan Poole is their star guard and he has already accumulated an impressive set of lowlights in Washington as the franchise continues to tank. He had one of his worst moments tonight in a 98-112 loss to the Boston Celtics.
Poole crossed Payton Pritchard over and had the Sixth Man of the Year favorite on the ground when he decided to point at him instead of shooting the ball, prompting Sam Hauser to contest the wide-open shot and force Poole into passing and ruining what could’ve been an iconic highlight.
Jordan Poole crossed Payton Pritchard and pointed at him instead of taking an open shot pic.twitter.com/8JYJYFLfBW
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) December 16, 2024
Poole led the Wizards in scoring with 21 points (8-19 FG) in 36 minutes, with all starters scoring over 12 points. Bilal Coulibaly put up 19 points while Julian Champagnie scored 13 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Rookies Alexandre Sarr (14 PTS, 6 REB) and Carlton Carrington (11 PTS, 10 REB) also had impressive showing though they weren’t competitive against the Celtics.
This was yet another one-sided loss for the Wizards on their home court, as the reigning champions beat them with ease. The Celtics were led by Jayson Tatum’s 28 points and 12 rebounds, with six other players scoring double digits. This includes Derrick White (15 points), Payton Pritchard (15 points), Jrue Holiday (12 points), Sam Hauser (12 points), Jaylen Brown (11 points), and Kristaps Porzingis (11 points).
Given the tanking nature of the Wizards, veterans like Poole have the ultimate green light which they can use to make themselves valuable to winning teams. However, Poole has done anything but that in his 15 months on the Wizards, consistently racking up viral lowlights like this that reinforce the belief that he isn’t a winning player.
He’s a former NBA Champion but hasn’t shown the potential he did with the Golden State Warriors since being traded to the Wizards, despite averaging big numbers. He’s putting up 20.3 points and 5.1 assists per game this season, the best production season of his career. But it hasn’t translated into anything positive for the Wizards on the court, leading to his numbers being dismissed as empty stats.
Poole could have a future as a sixth man or pure scorer on a winning team, but these habits which lead to lowlights would infuriate most head coaches trying to play winning basketball. There hasn’t been any interest in him from contending franchises since he joined the Wizards as well, probably due to the three years and $100.5 million on his contract.
