Jordan Poole’s swift exit from Golden State didn’t sit well with head coach Steve Kerr, who ‘hates the way it ended’.
The guard will return to Chase Center on Friday for the first time since he was traded away to the Wizards for Chris Paul.
It was over a year ago when Draymond’s infamous punch at training was the beginning of the end for Poole.
It was over four months ago that he left the Warriors, but Kerr still laments how things ended with the rising star.
“I look back at that, and I hate that it happened,” Kerr told The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “I know that in my heart, that when [the Draymond Green punch] happened, we handled it the best way we thought we could handle it. But in hindsight — and hindsight is always 20/20 — we could have done better for sure.
“I just hate the way it ended for Jordan here, because he is a huge success story. For us and for him, this was a great marriage. He helped us win a title. We helped him, you know, become a champion and a guy who signed a big contract, life-changing contract. It was all wildly successful. But I hate the way it ended.”
Poole enjoyed a breakout year in his third NBA season with the Dubs, which led to his first championship.
The questions for Poole from reporters before his Chase Center inevitably dredged up the parts he would rather forget.
He was asked what came from his time there.
“I learned that I’m built for tougher,” Poole said. “I think that was pretty dope. I mean, being at the highest level, you get just, like, so much media, so much of everything just being with that organization. It made me realize I was built for a lot tougher.”
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