Jordan Poole has been the butt of several jokes in his first season with the Washington Wizards. That didn’t change Thursday in a 130-110 blowout loss against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo.
With just over 30 seconds left in the third quarter, all Poole had to do was inbound the basketball to an open teammate. Instead, the Wizards guard just gifted possession to Nuggets star Jamal Murray in what was an utterly baffling mistake.
jordan poole is trying his best. pic.twitter.com/tqflUziN8W
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 23, 2024
Poole’s Wizards teammate Corey Kispert, who was calling for the inbound pass, was clearly fuming after the ridiculous error.
Denver capitalized on Poole’s blunder with an easy layup on the other end to extend their lead to 101-83.
Thursday marked Poole’s first time coming off the bench in a Wizards uniform. Poole tallied 18 points in his reserve role but shot a frigid 4/17 against the Nuggets.
Jordan Poole has been moved to the bench vs. Nuggets pic.twitter.com/AMez3LXGsD
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 23, 2024
Poole had started his first 52 games in Washington. He averaged 15.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 40.0% percent shooting from the field over that span.
Poole is no stranger to coming off the bench. The 24-year-old enjoyed immense success during his time as the sixth man on the Golden State Warriors, which culminated in a 2022 NBA Championship for Poole.
However, there’s a stark difference between coming off the bench for a contender and doing the same on one of the worst teams in the NBA.
