Having recently joined the Washington Wizards, Jordan Poole is being likened to James Harden, a comparison sparked by Boston Celtics legend Kevin Garnett. Garnett spots similarities between the two players, particularly in their career trajectories.
Harden began his career playing third fiddle for the Oklahoma City Thunder, behind Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. It was only after being traded that he took center stage with the Houston Rockets. Similarly, Poole took a backseat to stars such as Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Now with the Wizards, he’s poised to take on a larger role.
The key difference between Poole and Harden is that Poole clinched a championship before his major contract and subsequent trade, while Harden didn’t. Even so, Poole highly respects Harden, suggesting that the former Rockets superstar might’ve been a champion by now if he hadn’t gone through the Warriors.
Per Chase Hughes of Monumental Sports Network:
“I feel like he [James Harden] did it in a really good way. The team [Houston Rockets] was behind him, the organization was behind him, the coaches were behind him. That gave him the trust and the confidence to go be him and be himself. That’s what is going on over here [Washington Wizards],” Poole said. “S—, if he didn’t run into the Warriors one of those years he might have a ring.”
