GP2 plays hilarious ‘mind games’ on Poole in Warriors’ win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Gary Payton II knows being a great defender goes beyond the physical attributes required to go toe-to-toe with the NBA’s elite offensive players.
Sometimes it requires thinking outside the box, which Payton did by undoing former Warriors teammate Jordan Poole’s shoe laces during the fourth quarter of Golden State’s 122-114 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday at Chase Center.
After the Warriors’ clutch win, Payton revealed his hilarious prank was part of a larger plot to play “mind games” with his former teammate.
“That’s just, just mind games with JP. That’s just mind games,” Payton said on “Warriors Postgame Live” after Saturday’s win. “It’s all right. I knew he was going to, I know he was going to tell the ref, so get him, get him off of basketball for a quick second and bother him a little bit, but you know, always, always a pleasure, going up against JP.”
Payton going deep into his bag of tricks is understandable, as Poole scored a game-high 38 points on Saturday.
Despite Poole’s scoring outburst, Payton and the Warriors got the last laugh as Golden State began a critical run of games with a victory.
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