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Klay Thompson highlighted a hero of the Warriors' improbable 2022 title run: "He reminded me of myself"
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- Klay Thompson highlighted a hero of the Warriors' improbable 2022 title run: "He reminded me of myself"
For five straight years, from 2015 to 2019, the Golden State Warriors were playing in the NBA Finals. They won three times in that time period and really became a dynasty.
But once injuries started and Kevin Durant decided to leave and prove he can win without Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, the Warriors lost their dominant edge and everyone declared they were done. But they proved them wrong.
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In the 2021-22 season, when they won their last title, the famous trio was still the team's core. Despite the three having great seasons, with Steph averaging 32.0 and Klay 20.4 points per game and Draymond being on the All-Defensive Second Team, there was one other player who was the turning point in GSW's improbable run.
His name is Jordan Poole .
Poole had a winning mindset
During his time with the Warriors, Poole was a real offensive threat. His shiftiness and ability to make difficult shots made him a very difficult player to guard. Behind it was a lot of hard work, lots of training and a will to improve. As Thompson mentioned on "Podcast P," Poole had a crazy work ethic that was the same as his own back in the day.
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" I saw him put the work in. I saw him go 2 for 15 in a game, but then he would be in a dungeon (practice facility) getting shots up right after the game. That remind me of my younger self," said Thompson.
That season, Poole averaged 18.5 points per game while shooting an efficient 92 percent from the free-throw line. Although his primary role was coming off the bench, putting up great numbers and helping the Warriors secure the wins made him a starter for most of the season.
Thompson believes that without Poole, winning a championship would be a much harder mission to accomplish.
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" We wouldn't have won the championship without him. He was so important to us. When Steph went down and we play that series against Denver," explained Thompson.
Leaving the Warriors as a legend
After winning the championship, it seemed that Poole would be in San Francisco for a long time. Next season, his numbers improved and he stayed completely healthy, playing all 82 games.
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Unfortunately, as Thompson expressed, it is all business at the end of the day and Poole ended up being traded to the Wizards , following his incident with Draymond, who punched him in practice.
As hurtful as it was for Klay to see his teammate go, he believes Poole will forever be remembered by Warriors fans and that he will have no problems in his next destination.
"Jordan is forever going to be cherished in the Warriors' lore just for what he did and help us bring back to where we needed to go," expressed Thompson.
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Although Poole had a decent two seasons in Washington, it wasn't at the level that fans believed it should be. Since then, Poole's numbers have fallen pretty hard. He is currently playing for the New Orleans Pelicans, who ended up 11th in the Western Conference.
Even though Poole has had a disappointing run after his stint with the Warriors, he has proven many times that he can be an important player in a winning organization.
Some winning franchise needs to take a shot at him first, though, to see if he can still do that.
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This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Sep 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
