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Washington Wizards’ Jordan Poole Admits There’s No Joy Right Now

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics | By Paolo Songco | Last updated 4/11/24

Jordan Poole‘s first season with the Washington Wizards hasn’t exactly panned out as expected. There was a lot of hype surrounding his offseason move to D.C. as people expected him to finally shine after getting out of the shadow of his superstar ex-teammates with the Golden State Warriors.

Instead, the Wizards have the second-worst record in the entire NBA. As of writing, Poole and Co. have managed just 15 wins in 80 games played in 2023-24.

Washington Wizards News: Jordan Poole Gets Real on Struggles

Poole was recently asked about the type of joy he’s been experiencing since his move to Washington. “Joy” is one of the Wizards’ main mantras, but by his own admission, this is something that has been hard to come by considering how much they’ve been losing all season long:

“Thankful for the opportunity, but joy, not currently, not at the moment,” he said, via Dotun Akintoye of ESPN. “I think winning brings that, team basketball brings that … You can’t bulls**t that, though. You can’t fake that. It’s not something that you can just say, and just apply it, right? Joy almost has to be earned.”

Next year should be better for Poole and the Wizards. They should get their hands on a potentially game-changing lottery pick, and the front office could be preparing to make some moves in the offseason.

Perhaps Poole will be able to find a bit more joy in his basketball in 2024-25.

This article first appeared on Hardwood Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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