Jordan Poole wrapped up a sensational breakout regular season on Sunday with another standout statistic – and for this one, he even one-upped the greatest shooter of all time.
Poole made all four of his free throws in the Warriors' 128-107 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center to end the season shooting 92.5 percent from the line. That was two-tenths of a percent better than none other than Steph Curry, who was at 92.3 percent and held the NBA lead heading into the game – but obviously couldn’t add to his percentage because of his injury.
To lead the league at free-throw shooting percentage is already an incredible accomplishment, but to top Curry might be even more impressive.
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In the postgame interview on NBC Sports Bay Area, Poole said that exceeding the 90 percent clip from the line was something that he talked about with Curry before the season began, and that he would definitely text Curry about the news.
“That’s awesome,” Poole said in his postgame interview on NBC Sports Bay Area. “Me and Steph talked about it at the beginning of the year and [shooting 90 percent] was one of my goals this year. So being able to have the best free-throw shooter in the gym with me every day, and we’re going back and forth in the games, it’s pretty awesome.”
Poole later gave a shoutout to his mother for encouraging him to make his free throws from a young age.
"Ever since I was young, she told me there wasn't nobody guarding me on the free-throw line, so I shouldn't be missing too many,” Poole said. “Shout out to mom on that, that one was for you."
Golden State Warriors
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Curry even texted Poole before the game that he “better not miss,” according to coach Steve Kerr.
“We were joking with Jordan in the locker room: ‘Those were four pressure free throws knowing that the regular season title was on the line,’” Kerr said. “We’re really happy for Jordan. He’s had a great year and a good way to finish that up.”
With Curry aiming to return for the playoffs, Kerr will definitely be glad to have two players in the backcourt who are near-automatic from the charity stripe.