"The Who, What, When, Where, Why" of Wizards Media Day

Jordan Poole made everyone laugh off the court, while showing how serious he is about getting back to himself on the court.

(photo credit: NBC Washington)

In many ways NBA Media Days are akin to the first day of school for students and the Washington Wizards are officially back in the classroom for the 2024-25 season. The Wizards hosted their annual Media Day event at Capital One Arena on Monday and it served the purpose of outlining the team’s goals for the season like a syllabus. There are many of the same faces from last year, although some of those roles have shifted significantly, starting with head coach Brain Keefe. The former assistant coach essentially finished the season as a substitute teacher for the Wizards, taking over for former head coach Wes Unseld Jr.

Keefe saw his interim status converted to permanent coach in the off-season and now comes into this year as the head of the classroom for what will certainly be a learning experience for a very young Wizards team. One of the things that Keefe is preaching to his players is “process over outcomes… I want to win, but I want to go into the stuff that gets us to win. How we prepare, how we handle practices, but how we handle shootarounds, how we handle film sessions… Those are the things that’s going to build us to be a sustainable winner.”

The Wizards are in the beginning stages of a rebuild process, as general manager Will Dawkins informed media members last week that there would be four stages to the rebuild: deconstruction, laying the foundation, building it up, and then fortifying. The Wizards are still in the deconstruction phase according to Dawkins which makes Keefe’s role on the team very important because his guidance will be critical in determining which of the current players will be around for the latter phases. 

The most intriguing player on the Wizards roster for this upcoming season would have to be Jordan Poole as he is the main asset in return from the Wizards biggest deconstruction move of trading away former franchise player Bradley Beal last summer. Poole needed an extended period to get acclimated to his new environment last season as if he were a student transferring into a new school. There were struggles for Poole on the court as he had to adjust to playing off the ball for a good portion of the season until Brian Keefe took the helm and made a concerted effort to put the ball back into Poole’s hands. Coming into to the season, the game plan for the Wizards is to continue to empower Poole on the court. When Coach Keefe was asked if he intends to use Poole more as a ball-handler this season, Keefe’s answer was simple yet emphatic, “absolutely.” 

For Poole to get back to the confident player that he was as a member of the championship Golden State Warriors, he will need to instill the same level of confidence that he displayed with the Warriors on the court and that starts with him embracing his role off the court. Poole hosted several of the Wizards players for an informal team bonding session in California and when asked about why he decided to put that together it led to one of the funniest moments of Wizards Media Day.

Monumental Sports reporter Bijan Todd asked Poole for the “impetus” of hosting the workouts and a puzzled Jordan Poole responded with “the who,” which prompted a much needed sense of comedy in the Wizards media room as many reporters burst into laughter. As Todd explained the definition of the word impetus Poole’s response was “Ok! I like that,” and turned into one of the best moments by far from a Wizard at Media Day.

It will be very important for Poole to channel the comedic relief strictly off the court, as his play on the court last season prompted some of the funniest moments in the NBA. If the Wizards are going to accelerate their rebuilding process, then Jordan Poole will undoubtedly play a major role in determining their success. 

At just 25-years-old, Poole had an extremely up and down season averaging 17.1 points per game on 41% shooting from the field and just 32.6% from 3-point range and just 4.4 assists per game. However when you look at his stats after Brian Keefe took over, Poole’s points per game went up to 20.9, his assists rose to 5.8, and most importantly his 3-point shooting was over 40% and he much more closely resembled the dynamic player that he was in Golden State. If there is any rollover from how Poole finished his first year in Washington to the beginning of this season then it will drastically improve the Wizards chances of playing winning basketball.

Other Observations from Wizards Media Day

• The Wizards were the worst rebounding team in the NBA last season and hope to remedy that problem with the signing of Jonas Valanciunas who has a career rebounding average of 9.5 boards. The Lithuanian big man was brought in by the Wizards front office to be the teams starting center and he will have an immediate impact on how the Wizards will be able to be much more formidable post play. Valanciunas’ presence is a godsend for Jordan Poole who said that he was praying for some size this offseason and even gave a glimpse of what that potential duo can be on the court. “I don’t know if he has played with someone like me [like me] who can shoot off the screen. Defenders will have to chase us,” Poole exclaimed.

• I got a chance to nerd out and ask Valanciunas about his exceptional screening over the course of his career and what he remembers about going up against the master of the screen assist, former Wizards center Marcin Gortat and he was very complimentary of Gortat and stated that he has watched film and hopes to continue the legacy of big men in Washington.

• The Wizards had the number two overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and selected Alex Sarr, but the most intriguing rookies at Media Day were Bub Carrington and Kyshawn George who did their media availability together and showed much maturity for young players. Their dynamic resembles something like a buddy cop comedy and they will be highly entertaining to cover during their respective tenures as Wizards.

• Perhaps the most underrated nugget of knowledge gleaned from Wizards Media Day is the fact that Bilal Coulibaly in person appears to be taller than he was his rookie season and Bilal confirmed that he has grown to 6-foot-9 in shoes which will certainly pique the interest of Wizards fans. Coulibaly is already an exceptional athlete with great length as a player and if the 19-year-old's body continues to grow it will increase the ceiling of what he can become as a player.