Jordan Poole is that guy.
He made that much clear with an emphatic dunk in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 142-112 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.
But the 22-year-old also had a message for Chase Center on Saturday night -- or a reminder, some might say.
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Poole was fired up after the dunk and yelled to no one in particular, “I’m really him! I’m really him!”
But maybe the claim did have an intended recipient. Poole was left off of the finalist list for the NBA Most Improved Player Award after a breakout 2021-22 season, causing many on his team to raise their eyebrows in question.
Perhaps Poole wanted to remind the league of his star power.
His regular-season shooting prowess carried over into the opening NBA playoff round against the Denver Nuggets and now into the semifinals. Poole, along with the rest of Golden State’s offense, bounced back from the Game 2 loss against the Grizzlies to explode and take a 2-1 series lead on Saturday.
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In his first postseason as a starter, Poole is averaging 22.9 points, 5.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game with a 56.5 shooting percentage from the field. On Saturday, he was 11-of-17 shooting and was 3-of-5 from behind the arc en route to a 27-point game.
Poole’s fourth-quarter dunk was just another reminder that he is, indeed, “him.”