"I wish Jordan Poole was playing this game" - NBA fans react to viral ring girl Sydney Thomas stealing spotlight at Hawks vs Heat game

There's a running joke online that Jordan Poole plays better when he sees attractive women at games. When Sydney Thomas, a model who went viral as a ring girl during the Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul fight, attended Saturday's Miami Heat-Atlanta Hawks game, fans couldn't resist bringing up Poole's name.

Sydney Thomas, who gained attention during last month's boxing fight, was featured in a clip released by the Hawks' X (formerly Twitter) account:

"Man i wish jordan poole was playing this game...real baddie...bro could’ve had 60," one fan commented.

Other online users speculated about which players might have a big game with Thomas in attendance.

"trae young goin for 50," speculated one user on X.

"Sydney Thomas at the game? I hope she's ready for some elite defense—Heat might just cool down the Hawks' offense tonight," said another.

However, not all fans were impressed with the Hawks' post:

"Hawks so down bad they post stuff like this," said one netizen.

"this the most engagement yall gotten in months lmfaooo," said another.

As for explosive performances, it was Hawks forward Jalen Johnson who delivered, scoring 28 points on 13-for-20 shooting to help Atlanta beat Miami 120-110. De’Andre Hunter added 26 points, and Garrison Matthews chipped in 18 as the Heat allowed the Hawks to shoot 51.2%.

Jordan Poole is having the best scoring season of his career

Jordan Poole deserves the spotlight for another reason: he’s having the best scoring stretch of his six-year NBA career.

This season, Poole is putting up 21.3 points per game, a marked improvement from his 17.4 ppg during his first year with the Washington Wizards in 2023-24. While with the Golden State Warriors, his best scoring average came in 2022-23, when he put up 20.4 ppg.

Still, Poole has his work cut out for him, as only the New Orleans Pelicans (5-27) have a worse record than his Wizards (5-23).

It will take more than one inspired performance from Poole — along with significant adjustments from his teammates and the Wizards’ coaching staff — to turn Washington’s season around.