“It’s just you get to know someone like that, build a friendship, build a bond. It’s tough to see him go.” Losing a teammate is never easy, especially when he began his pro journey right in front of you. For Stephen Curry, it was obvious why Jordan Poole was let go of by the Warriors, back in 2023, but it didn’t make the loss hurt any less. Nevertheless, the Splash Bro had nothing but good wishes for the shooting guard. Months have passed, and Curry continues maintaining that attitude, even if his teammate doesn’t!

Earlier today, after the Warriors-Wizards matchup, the Chef was asked what it was like playing against Jordan Poole. The duo had competed against each other during two previous regular season games too. Despite that, the 36-year-old still found it heartwarming. Stephen Curry said, “It’s always great to see teammates, good friends. Rooting for him trying to make something out of this organization. With this opportunity here to lead, he is playing a lot better than he did last year, getting comfortable, so. Just excited for him, This is what, his 5th year?… He plays with joy, he plays with flash, same old JP we know.”

While Curry appreciated Poole’s improvement in performance, clips highlighted both the Splash Bro and Steve Kerr sharing a hug with Poole. Steph was glad that his team was able to secure the win this time around. “I’m just glad we got the win and the bragging rights this time,” said the 36-year-old.

Even if the Warriors roster may have been rooting for Poole, it still didn’t stop Draymond Green from handing out his “bragging rights” before the game concluded. One of the most memorable moments was when Green passed the ball to Curry, who then made a fake move and deposited a buzzer-beater! No sooner had the ball gone in than the power forward taunted JP by pointing a finger at him. This was in retaliation to when Poole himself pointed at Green after the latter contested one of the Wizards star’s shots.

For some Bay Area fans, this would be reminiscent of an unwanted bout of nostalgia. After all, among some of Draymond Green’s most infamous incidents is the one when he punched Poole, when the duo were still teammates, in a practice session back in October 2022.

Dray’s recent actions did not play well with fans. While Poole and Green may have brought forward any ‘ugly’ rivalry, Stephen Curry’s praise would’ve made them forget it. Despite this, Bay Area fans may use the ‘verbal exchange’ to again question what went so wrong between them. After all, it wasn’t that long ago when Draymond Green had nothing but praises to share for his former teammate.

Draymond Green once drew a comparison between Jordan Poole and Stephen Curry: “That’s tough”

By April 2022, Jordan Poole was making waves alongside the Warriors. He had come off a season averaging 12 points and he increased that average to 18.5! The hooper became a topic of conversation right from Game 1 of the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs. After all, his contribution of 30 points in the 123–107 win over the Nuggets was nothing short of commendable. As a result, even Draymond Green came to highlight that the shooting guard certainly seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.

“Jordan is doing some of the same stuff Steph does, and that’s tough,” said Green after winning Game 1. “You’re going to game plan for Steph, you’re going to game plan for [Klay Thompson]. But now, you’ve got to game plan for Jordan. That’s a different beast. You know, you’re trapping Steph. Okay, well, if you’re trapping Steph and you got Jordan on the floor too, it’s hard to trap two guys.”

2022 was the last time that the Warriors lifted the Larry O’Brien trophy. With a 6-1 win record now, Stephen Curry and Co. are on track to take another shot at the championship title. As for Jordan Poole, whose Washington Wizards now holds a 2-4 win record, the road to reaching the playoffs will be tougher, but still possible in this early stage.