“I don’t know who told you I like candles.”
Jordan Poole tells me this with a wide smile after I tell him an unnamed source told me the Washington Wizards guard likes to make candles in his free time.
Poole isn’t ashamed of his hobby, he just enjoys being mysterious, and this discovery cuts into the mystique.
But it’s not only candles. Poole has a serious green thumb.
While growing up, Poole would be outside hooping and his mother would be outside with him, tending to her plants. He learned to admire the beauty and benefits of plants, appreciating the photosynthesis of trees and the importance of greenery and plants. He’s outfitted his spot with them.
“They’re good for the eyes,” he said.
Poole wasn’t making this metaphor, but there’s something poetic about his love of the process of making plants grow, about the care and patience it takes to accomplish your stated goal, and how that applies to his current season — and life.
“I liked the process of you gotta water them, you gotta give them sunlight, because they grow over time,” Poole said. “Just to see the growth over time is something I thought was dope.”
After four seasons and one championship with the Golden State Warriors, Poole was traded to the Wizards last offseason. Known as a creative ballhandler and prolific scorer coming off the bench for the Warriors, his time with the four-time champions ended after he was punched by teammate Draymond Green in October 2022 in an incident that seemed to place a cloud over the entire 2022-23 season. The season ended with the Warriors losing in the second round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Lakers.
While it was understood that the Wizards were in a rebuilding phase by the time Poole was acquired, there was reasonable expectation that he would flourish on a team that was looking for someone to shoot the ball. After averaging nearly 20 points on 15 shots as a part-time reserve for the Warriors the last two seasons, Poole seemed primed for a breakout season in Washington. With his handles, playmaking ability, and desire to shoot the ball from just about anywhere, why couldn’t he average close to 30 points a game?
Well, that never quite happened.
Through his first 52 games of the season, Poole averaged 15.6 points and 3.7 assists on 40% shooting (30.3% from 3-point range). His defense wasn’t any better, and the Wizards entered Friday with an 11-55 record.
But it wasn’t just Poole’s poor play and the team’s underwhelming output. Poole almost immediately became the punchline of jokes on social media, from both everyday users and corporate accounts. There’s making fun of someone for doing something silly, but then there’s the jokes made about Poole. It seems that social media users, particularly on X, formerly known as Twitter, have found a social currency in mentioning Poole’s name.
There was the time Poole threw an alley-oop off the backboard to teammate Kyle Kuzma … when the Wizards were down 21 points to the Atlanta Hawks. Or when Poole lazily walked back behind the 3-point line against a Boston Celtics defender, giving the defender enough time to block Poole’s 3-point attempt. Poole slipped and fell while coming up the court against the Phoenix Suns. Edited videos made it appear as if Poole just fell out of nowhere even though he simply slipped on a wet spot. The list goes on.
Of course, what Poole was doing was ripe for criticism, including doing the Stephen Curry, turn-around-after-shooting move and missing. But the jabs kept coming. Accounts zeroed in on his advanced metric numbers to rib him. Accounts compiled highlight reels of Poole’s miscues on a random Wednesday. When Poole was moved to the bench on Feb. 22, accounts made sure to emphasize the word “benched” in their posts.
Poole has seen all of this. He knows what his reputation is among many people who don’t know him. But he also has a deep understanding of the platforms where these posts and opinions are made about him. He’s never been a fan of social media – which, for a 24-year-old, is surprising since the social media era has made up most of his life. Facebook launched when Poole was 4 and Instagram dropped when he was in middle school.
“I just missed Myspace,” he said.
Social media can be good for connecting with friends and family or for business purposes, he said, but it can also be a toxic cesspool. Poole said he recalls reading a story about how negativity proliferates on social media. He couldn’t recall the story, but a 2021 Washington Post piece found that from 2016 to 2020 Facebook’s algorithm prioritized content that elicited “angry” emoji reactions, thus in a way encouraging users to post content that made people angry or upset. A 2021 Harvard Business School study found that negative tweets were more likely to be shared on Twitter than positive ones.
“We’re just in an era where we’re attracted to the negativity,” Poole said.
Poole doesn’t have an X account, and his Instagram has just 10 posts, the most recent one was on Jan. 13 when he advertised a new Nike shoe. He sees the personal attacks online for what they are: opportunities for views, likes, and in an era of social media where posts can be monetized.
Poole chalks the attacks up to both his style of play and his confidence. For better or worse, he’s the type of player to go tween, tween, behind-the-back step-back. If the play ends in a bucket, it’s a SportsCenter Top 10 play. If it doesn’t, the player becomes the joke of the internet.
He could get lost in all of it, let the ridicule talk him out of playing the way he does, but Poole doesn’t base his playing style on if people will clown him for it later. It’s been his style of play since he was a kid growing up in Milwaukee: half-court shots, ankle breakers, game-winning buckets.
Poole’s style fits Milwaukee to a T. Milwaukee is a blue-collar city not unlike Detroit and Cleveland, but there’s an in-your-face swagger to some of its youths that borders on conceited arrogance. When it comes to Milwaukee basketball, it’s a lot of flash: crazy handles, loud trash talking, a strong desire to style on your opponent. What can normally fail a Milwaukee baller, though, is a lack of skill and focus, hence the dearth of Milwaukee natives who make it to the league. Poole is one of the talented few who can keep it all together.
That confidence that got Poole from Milwaukee to the NBA? No amount of trades, losing or criticism on the internet is going to make it waver.
“The confidence thing has always stood out and been a staple just because not everybody’s a fan of that, just because not everyone has confidence,” he said. “Those who don’t have confidence are probably the ones who are hating.”
The problem Poole sees is that people think they know him when they only know the basketball version of him. It’s two separate people, he says. Yes, on the court he can come across as co*cky or overconfident, doing unreal crossovers and launching 30 feet from the basket. But outside of work, he said, he’s laid back and chill. You can see that in speaking with him. His style of play would make you believe Poole is an arrogant person who seeks to only speak highly of himself.
Consider the long-running meme that Poole seems to bring out his best handles and layup packages when attractive women — or, baddies — are sitting courtside. Selectively edited videos make Poole look distracted during games.
Poole’s aware of the meme. He laughs at it, but he knows it isn’t true. He also understands there’s nothing he can do about it now, so no point in debunking it.
“Just think about that. That right there shows me that this is all — it’s out of my control,” he said.
In conversation, Poole is very measured and thoughtful in his responses, pausing to consider his answer to a question. He can be animated, but that’s only to drive home his point. After our interview, Poole texted a quote from author Roy T. Bennett to reiterate his stance on social media: “A smart person knows how to talk. A wise person knows when to be silent.” His demeanor is closer to that of former NBA player Tim Duncan than you might expect.
Poole’s a naturally private person. While he understands his current stature, he’s never cared for fame. He just wants to hoop, take care of his people back home, and be a good role model in the community.
During the Christmas holiday he donated bikes, helmets, and skateboards to children in Washington. In January, Poole presented a customized bobblehead to Virginia Ali, co-founder of Washington restaurant staple Ben’s Chili Bowl, at her 90th birthday celebration.
Since its founding in 1958, Ben’s Chili Bowl has been an unofficial gathering spot for Washington’s Black population, in the past viewed by local sports media as the place to get the Black perspective on the area’s teams. Ali has said that former Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams and NBA forward Kevin Durant, who grew up in suburban Maryland, have been frequent guests. So, safe to say Ali has met a lot of Black athletes through the years.
From the moments she shared with Poole at her party, Ali was impressed.
“And so I am up there to take family photos, and this handsome, tall young man walks up to me and — he’s a good-looking boy, right?” Ali told Andscape.
“And he says, ‘I’m Jordan and I’m here to present this to you from the Washington Wizards.’ And I take this little gray haired bobblehead in my hand and I’m like, ‘oh my God.’ I was speechless, I was absolutely speechless.”
On Sunday, Poole will launch a jacket he collaborated on with designer and Washington native Chris Pyrate. When Poole was traded to the Wizards, Pyrate, who dabbles in murals, fashion and art, shot him a direct message about working together.
Pyrate considers himself an in-tune person and recognizes that as well in Poole, whom Pyrate calls a “kindred spirit.” So as the pair worked on the jacket, Poole asked Pyrate about the vibe of Washington and how former players John Wall and Bradley Beal won the fan base over.
Pyrate said that being out and about was one of the ways to win fans, whether that be in the community or in the social scene. Poole plans to do just that, but getting the team back on track is his No. 1 priority.
“He said, ‘Right now, I’m just locked-in,’ ” Pyrate said. “Right now he basically told me he’s focused on getting better, getting stronger — he always flexes, right? — and he’ll come outside when he fixes his game or finds his new game.”
Through those first 52 games, Poole said, his confidence never changed. He’s been seen visibly frustrated and borderline pouting through some of the season, but he says it’s more so that he was evaluating his new role with the team, trying to figure out how to repeat the production that made him an NBA champion with the Warriors.
The game is about catching rhythms, like a surfer catches a wave. He’s been biding his time to find what works rather than losing the mojo and work ethic that got him here. He wishes he could find an immediate cure for some of his woes, but he hasn’t yet. Regardless, the confidence remains even when the box scores aren’t the prettiest.
“So if I go out there and I shoot 3 for 15, that work is no different from the game I had when I was 9 for 11,” Poole said.
That mindset seems to finally be paying dividends in Washington.
Since moving to the second unit against the Denver Nuggets last month, Poole has averaged 20.5 points and 4.3 assists per game on 43.4% shooting (36.7% from 3) in 12 games. He said we’re seeing him play more of his true position, which is point guard. During his time running Golden State’s second unit over the past few seasons, he had the ball in his hand more, directed traffic when the offense got out in transition, and ran around the off-ball screens that made the Warriors one of the most productive offenses for nearly a decade now.
With the Wizards, though, Poole played off-ball more, being relegated to standing behind the 3-point line, waiting to be fed the ball by a teammate. Anytime Poole received the ball, he’d be immediately met by a lengthy wing defender impacting Poole’s space. That was partly a result of personnel: The Wizards have neither the screeners nor the knockdown shooters like the Warriors (although, in fairness, not many teams do).
“I wasn’t able to do what I was accustomed to doing in terms of how I built my game,” Poole said.
With the ball in his hands more, Poole can now orchestrate the offense, which can consist of beating his defender off the dribble, coming off different screens (off-ball, high-ball, double drags), or finding open teammates on backdoor cuts.
“He understands what good basketball is. He’s played in it, he’s seen it, he’s played against it his whole career,” Wizards forward Corey Kispert told reporters on Feb. 27. “He ultimately wants to get guys like me and Landry [Shamet] and guys who can shoot involved.”
“We told him that we want him to be aggressive for himself and for others and you’re seeing that when the shots are going in,” interim Wizards head coach Brian Keefe told reporters after Poole scored 34 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 29. “… He can generate a lot of offense for us, this is part of the reason we wanted him with the ball more.”
The Wizards lost 16 consecutive games between Jan. 31 and March 6, falling below the Detroit Pistons, who at one point this season lost 28 consecutive games, in the Eastern Conference standings.
With all the success the Warriors have had over the last decade, it is easy to forget about the lean years. With injuries to Curry, Green and guard Klay Thompson during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, Golden State won a combined 54 games, including a league-worst 15-50 record in 2019-20. That season also happened to be Poole’s rookie season.
While it was a big adjustment to go from the championship-pedigree Warriors to a Washington franchise that hasn’t won more than 35 games in six years, Poole is familiar with struggling.
He says, in hindsight, that 2019-20 season prepared him for this current year with the Wizards, both in how he performed (Poole shot 33.3% from the field and 27.9% on 3-pointers) and how the team finished the season.
“We was weak,” he said when asked about those Warriors teams.
“He [Poole] understands what good basketball is. He’s played in it, he’s seen it, he’s played against it his whole career.”
— Washington Wizards guard Corey Kispert
But the glaring difference is the Warriors knew the star players would return from injury eventually. For the Wizards, the cavalry isn’t coming. They have to be more patient with the results they hope to reach.
Their transformation will be gradual. A high draft pick here, a smart trade there, winning more than 35 games will eventually lead to a play-in or playoff berth, so on and so forth. The Wizards have to develop, just as the Warriors did when they drafted Curry (2009), Thompson (2011) and Green (2012).
For now, there will be some bumps in the road. Search social media or Reddit and you’ll find fed-up Wizards fans who are sick of the starting lineups, the rotations, the blown leads, the coaching, and, of course, the losses.
Poole says he’s always been mindful of how the fans feel about the product. He — and his teammates — want success just as much as the fan base. But the players understand this isn’t an overnight change and they, too, have to get used to bottoming out to completely rebuild the franchise. He desperately wants to give the fans something to root for, to be proud of, but that can’t be accomplished with the snap of a finger.
“If that was the case we would have did that s—, everybody would have did that already, bro,” he said. “You think we wouldn’t be out here winning nine games?”
This season hasn’t gone as anyone expected, and not just as far as Poole’s production: On Jan. 25, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. was moved to a front-office role and replaced by Keefe. It’s reasonable to understand Poole being affected by the losing and the online ribbing. But he says no matter what’s said about him, he doesn’t get lost in it.
To him, what separates those who have confidence from those who don’t is the refusal to let others guilt you into being someone you’re not. Sure, his playing style isn’t for everyone, and sure, it hasn’t translated to immediate success in Washington this year, but Poole believes strongly in believing in yourself, and much like the plants he now grows, believing in the process.
“If you’re going to be who you are,” Poole said, “be who you are.”
Martenzie Johnson is a senior writer for Andscape. His favorite cinematic moment is when Django said, "Y'all want to see somethin?"
