The most likable player in the NBA might be in street clothes for the entire season. Try to find anything bad said about Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson. You'll come up empty.
Warriors rookie Jordan Poole had heard everything from the outside about the goofy sharpshooter who will read a newspaper in the locker room before locking up your best player on defense and go Super Saiyan from beyond the arc on offense. When Poole finally met Klay, he lived up to everything the rook had been told.
"Klay is who I thought Klay is going to be, 100 percent," Poole said on "House of Highlights." "He's mellow, really chill."
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With Thompson rehabbing the torn ACL he suffered in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, Poole's role as a rookie has increased more than one might expect from the No. 28 pick in the draft. He's a reliable 3-point threat and scored 13 points in his first start in the NBA on Monday in the Warriors' 134-123 win over the Pelicans.
While Poole might be called on to make up for some of the points the Warriors are missing in Klay's absence, the rookie won't have the same antics on the court as the five-time All-Star.
"The one thing that's funny to me about Klay is his celebrations," Poole joked. "His celebrations are so like ... so wack, that like, it's Klay."
Golden State Warriors
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All jokes aside, despite Klay being off the court right now, Poole has seen firsthand what makes him so great.
"He just hoops, man," Poole said. "He's really nonchalant, but he's a perfectionist. He wants everything to be perfect. I think that's what makes him great."