How Jordan Poole and Jaren Jackson Jr.’s friendship prepared them for
the playoff lights
Late-night gym sessions fueled Golden State Warriors' Jordan Poole and
Grizzlies' Jaren Jackson Jr. to stardom
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 7: Golden State Warriors’ Jordan
Poole (3) goes up for a basket against Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson
Jr. (13) during Game 3 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series
at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The
Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 142-112. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 7: Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole
(3) goes up for a basket against Memphis Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr.
(13) during Game 3 of a second-round NBA basketball playoff series at
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Saturday, May 7, 2022. The
Golden State Warriors defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 142-112. (Jose
Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
By SHAYNA RUBIN | srubin@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 11, 2022 at 5:31 a.m. | UPDATED: May 11, 2022 at 9:33 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/05/11/how-jordan-poole-and-jaren-jackson-jr-s-friendship-prepared-them-for-the-playoff-lights/

SAN FRANCISCO — Minutes after the Grizzlies beat the Minnesota
Timberwolves to join the Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals,
Jordan Poole took out his phone to send a text to his best friend.

No words, just a GIF of “The Office” character Dwight Schrute nodding,
“It’s go time.” The Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. sent a Snoop Dogg GIF
back: “It’s about to go down.”

This series has been a dream come true for the 22-year-old “brothers”
who six years ago in their Indiana prep school dorm room were drawing up
visions of playing in the NBA one day.

“We’ve talked about this forever,” Jackson said. “We used to joke that —
because he didn’t really like playing defense like that — the team he’d
be good at was the Warriors.”

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But to play against each other on the playoff stage? That was a goal the
pair couldn’t have imagined.

Playoff bliss for two old friends has been interrupted by tension
between their teams caused by a slew of flagrant fouls, ejections,
costly injuries and a suspension. Poole was thrust into the drama when
Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said he caused Memphis star Ja Morant’s
knee injury in Game 3.

Truth is, none of the toxicity has really fazed them. Look closely and
you’ll catch Jackson and Poole on the court together trying to lighten
the mood.

“Stop fouling! You can’t stay on the court!” Poole yelled at Jackson
from the bench while he conferred with referees during Game 1.

Jackson couldn’t help but smile.

It all comes from a bond Shane Heirman, their coach at La Lumiere prep,
saw in them as teenagers.

“Their ability to compete and have a good time, they both have
tremendous personalities,” said Heirman, now an associate head coach at
Central Michigan. “Every day they brought an energy to the court.”

—

Jackson, the son of former Warrior Jaren Jackson Sr., transferred from
Park Tudor in Indianapolis to La Lumiere his senior year as one of the
most sought-after recruits in the nation: Five stars, a 6-foot-11 phenom
who’d soon commit to Michigan State.

From Rufus King High School in Milwaukee, Poole transferred to “LaLu”
as he prepared for college ball at Michigan. In addition to Jackson, he
teamed up with five-star recruits Tyger Campbell (UCLA) and Brian Bowen
(G League). They went 29-1 and beat now-Knicks guard RJ Barrett and
Montverde Academy to win a national title.

“We were kind of like a cheat code,” Poole said.

For all their success together, they grew more through playing against
each other.

A strict curfew at LaLu meant lights out at 8:30 p.m. By 9 p.m., the two
roommates were sneaking out.

With a butter knife stolen from the school cafeteria, they’d pick open
the lock on the school gym, pop on the latest album release – think Lil
Uzi Vert and J. Cole — and play one-on-one through the late night until
they couldn’t move a muscle.

Heirman said he’s proud of them for breaking the rules at La Lumiere.

“They lock that place up tight, so you have to get pretty creative to
get in there,” Heirman said.

Stuck inside in rural Indiana, an empty gym one picked lock away was
heaven. Those sessions were “the highlight of my basketball career,”
Poole said.

“LaLu was nowhere. It was a culture shock,” he said. “All we did was
play basketball because we were bored. We couldn’t drive or go anywhere
on campus … When guys got tired we’d go home, go to sleep, wake up and
do it all over again.”

It was in that LaLu gym that Poole says he developed his touch around
the rim that’s added a prized dynamic to the Warriors’ scoring today.

Jackson stands near 7 feet tall. At 6-foot-4, Poole had to find crafty
ways to score against his teammate one-on-one. So he learned how to
change up his tempo and find different ways through the lane, how to
seek out quick layups, use a feathery touch on layups high off the glass
and get into bigger players’ bodies.

“Jaren is a big reason why my finishing game is so strong,” Poole said.
“We played one-on-one, and when I figured out how to score against
taller opponents and more athletic bigs, he was the
prototype.”https://twitter.com/BallisLifeCHI/status/794735968779640832

As his primary defender during those one-on-one sessions, Jackson took
the brunt of Poole’s growth.

“He still does a lot of the same stuff,” Jackson said. “I just try to
make it hard on him. He’s become a lot better player than he was back then.”

Playing against Poole, Jackson learned how to find the dog in him.
Coming from Milwaukee, Poole says he was born with a chip on his
shoulder he knew he could dig out of a more mild-mannered Jackson.

Poole realized he couldn’t just tell Jackson to get angry, he’d have to
make him get angry. So during those open gym sessions, Poole would bump
him, talk to him and get under his skin as much as he could. Poole
started to see the dog.

“He took it to Michigan State and now he plays with so much fire,” Poole
said. “He screams and he’s physical. He hits six 3s and talks his cash.”

—

If there’s one thing Heirman remembers about Jackson and Poole’s
friendship, it’s the budding friendly rivalry. Poole tried in vain to
get Jackson to come to Michigan with him, but Jackson had his sights set
on Tom Izzo’s program. Soon the rival school flags were hanging on
opposite walls of their LaLu dorm room. And the trash talk followed.

“They had friendly banter all day and that carried onto the floor,”
Heirman said.

Now up against each other in these playoffs, Jackson and Poole have been
budding stars.

Poole is averaging 23 points per game this series and shooting 37% from
3. His most impactful points have been penetrating the paint, rolling
layups over defenders like Jackson — when Jackson can’t get a hand on
it. Jackson is averaging 20.3 points and torched the Warriors in Game 1,
hitting those six 3s and grabbing 10 rebounds.

“We knew we would get to the league,” Poole said. “Little did we know
we’d be in the Western Conference together, let alone playing together
in the playoffs. As cliche as it sounds, we used to dream about it.”

--
Shayna Rubin | Oakland Athletics reporter