ABC airs scintillating ‘Wired’ segment of a silent Jordan Poole during Warriors’ blowout win

June 5, 2022Updated: June 5, 2022 7:54 p.m.

Jordan Poole and Steph Curry celebrate Poole’s shot in Game Two of the 2022 NBA Finals at Chase Center on June 05, 2022 in San Francisco, California.

Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

The special mic’d up segments during NBA games are almost always boring. Coaches and players are rarely heard expressing more than their desire to get a stop or a bucket. But ABC’s segment with Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole after the beleaguered Splash Nephew sank a half-court shot at the end of the third quarter during Game 2 of the NBA Finals took the blandness to a new level:

Poole hugged and high-fived Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins… and said exactly zero words, making it unclear why the segment aired at all. 

Poole’s defensive struggles continued into Game 2, but his shooting line was much improved after a rough outing in Game 1 that had Klay Thompson telling him to put his phone away.

He hit two straight 3-pointers, including the buzzer-beating halfcourt shot, to cap a 19-3 Warriors run at the end of the third quarter that had the home team on its way to a comfortable blowout win.

The Warriors evened the series with a 107-88 win over the Celtics, keyed by yet another explosive third quarter. Steve Kerr kept Poole in his rotation after an ugly opener to the Finals, and was rewarded handsomely. Poole finished with 17 points in 23 minutes, including five made 3-pointers on nine attempts. 

Dennis Young is the SFGATE sports editor. He can be reached at dennis.young@sfgate.com