Warriors’ Klay Thompson has advice for Jordan Poole after rough NBA Finals start: ‘Turn off your phone’

Warriors veteran Klay Thompson passed along some sage advice for one of his struggling teammates after a night to forget in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Although every member of Golden State is eager to get past their 120-108 loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, Jordan Poole may be feeling that more than most. Poole turned over the ball four times and went just 2-of-7 on shooting from the field (including an abymsal 1-of-5 from three-point range). He was also the only player with over one minute of playing time to have an offensive efficiency below 100. 

“I just tell Jordan, ‘Relax and don’t be too hard on yourself.’ He reminds me of my younger self,” Thompson said during media availability on Saturday. “You want to be great every night, but the nature of the beast, it’s not like that, unfortunately. There’s going to be lulls, there’s going to be highs.”

“I just remind Jordan we all have bad games. Even the greatest to ever play have had bad games,” he added. “Turn off your phone, don’t watch television, sports media, because it’s very reactionary and when you’re at the center of the basketball universe, everyone has an opinion. And that can wear on you because there’s just so much time between games.”

ALSO READ: Why Warriors-Celtics is an NBA Finals everyone else loves to hate

Thompson is not the only one hoping Poole is able to put Game 1 behind him. Gary Payton, NBA Hall of Famer and father of current Warriors player Gary Payton II, told NBC Sports that Poole must “settle himself down” in Game 2.  

“Jordan Poole needs to step up a little bit,” Payton said. “To me, he hasn’t had that Jordan Poole [postseason] he was having since that first round. I think what he needs to do is settle himself down and basically just do him, be comfortable shooting that basketball. To me, I think he’s dribbling the ball a little bit too much, turning the ball over, and I think he just needs to calm down and relax. He needs to relax.”

The Warriors take on the Celtics in Game 2 at Chase Center tonight at 5 p.m. The series then moves to Boston, where Game 3 tips off at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.