There’s been a trend in sports—and especially in the NBA—over the last decade or so. It’s a slightly altered version of the #grindset-style LinkedIn mentality that’s infected the people you went to college with. If you’ve seen old classmates turn into corporate robots, constantly posting about how hard they work and how much capital they’ve accrued, you know what I’m talking about.
In basketball, it looks like the Phoenix Suns sharing a video of a team workout after a game. It also shows up every summer, when players go on Instagram and flaunt their new hot bod, sculpted by personal trainers and a renewed devotion to fitness.
Then there’s Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole. This season, Poole has displayed a knack for going viral. Except, instead of it being for his shredded abs or tireless work ethic, it’s usually for being a huge goofball. We’re not even into December yet, and Poole has still managed to bless us with enough ridiculous plays to last the whole season. Basketball Twitter has roundly named him the league’s most unserious player—and we’re here to say that this is an unqualified good thing.
X content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Poole is just 24 years old, only has three posts on his Instagram grid, already secured a championship with the Warriors, and is in the first season of a four-year, $128 million dollar contract that pays him a higher salary each year. The man has already won. He’s basically said as much, too. In an interview with The Ringer from October, Poole said, “My family is taken care of, my basketball legacy is taken care of with the ring. This is probably the first time in my life I’ll play basketball with no pressure. So that’s kind of how you look at it. But it’s a really good opportunity. It’s a cool opportunity, dope opportunity.”
Dope opportunity, indeed. It’s no secret that Poole’s chill-ass attitude conflicted with several Warriors, particularly Draymond Green, the player who arguably possesses the least amount of chill in the entire NBA. This bubbled over in training camp before last season, when Green famously socked Poole in the face, later explaining that his rage was caused by “dialogue that happened over the course of time” and “stuff you don’t say amongst men”. This culture clash was largely perceived as the reason why the Warriors—the organization months removed from giving him that nine-figure contract extension, mind you—traded him for the no-nonsense Chris Paul over the summer.
Read the full article here
