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Stephen Curry showed some love to former teammate Jordan Poole after leading the Golden State Warriors to a 125-112 victory over the Washington Wizards on Monday.
The two embraced after the game, and Bijan Todd of Monumental Sports Network reported Curry also wrote a personalized message on his uniform and made sure Poole received it in the Wizards’ locker room.
Monday marked Curry’s return to the Golden State lineup for the first time since Oct. 27 because of an ankle injury.
He looked to be in midseason form with 24 points, six assists and three rebounds on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 shooting from deep. He played just 24 minutes, but the visitors still came away with the rather straightforward win to improve to 6-1 on the campaign.
Poole also scored 24 points, although he wasn’t as efficient at 8-of-20 shooting from the field and 2-of-10 shooting from deep. However, he impressed on the defensive side with four blocks and three steals against his former team.
The University of Michigan product played the first four seasons of his career on the Warriors after they selected him with a first-round pick in 2019. While he was a secondary contributor at first, he developed into a key piece of the offense that won the championship during the 2021-22 campaign.
He averaged 17 points a night during that playoff run and then followed up by posting a career-best 20.4 points per game during the 2022-23 season.
That 2022-23 effort came after Draymond Green made headlines for punching Poole during a training camp practice. Golden State ended up trading Poole to the Wizards the following offseason, although it appears there are no lingering bad feelings between him and Curry.
Washington hits the road to face the Warriors on Jan. 18, so the fans who used to cheer for Poole will have the opportunity to welcome him back later this season.
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