Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas has made a bold claim regarding Washington Wizards guard Jordan Poole, stating that he believes Poole’s days as a starter in the league are over.
This offseason, the Wizards made a significant move by acquiring Jordan Poole from the Golden State Warriors, hoping he would be a cornerstone alongside Kyle Kuzma.
The move included taking on Poole’s lucrative 4-year, $128 million contract that he signed with the Warriors prior to last season. Poole has struggled to meet expectations, leading to his recent removal from the starting lineup.
However, the shift to coming off the bench has seemingly benefited Poole’s game, as his scoring output has surged from 16 to 24 points per game.
Arenas, speaking on Gil’s Arena, expressed his opinion that Poole’s improved performance off the bench indicates that he is most effective in that role, suggesting that he may never return to a starting position.
According to Arenas, Poole’s success as a bench player has essentially “sealed his fate” in the NBA, relegating him to a permanent role as a bench player.
“It’s horrible though because he done sealed his fate. You forever bench player. You done sealed it,” the former league star said.
Arenas also said that that he would have advised Poole not to play well when moved to the bench in order to not prove that the team made the right decision.
“Your contract is for a few years, so you might have to sacrifice this year to prove that you better a starter than a bench player. You done prove that your role, your impact is bench,” Arenas added.
