Rūta Savickaitė gets back on the court with Jordan Poole in his Summer ’22 Europe Tour

September 08, 2022

By Madisen Carter

After winning the 2022 NBA Championship in June, Golden State Warriors’ Jordan Poole wasted no time getting back into the gym to work on his craft. This summer, Poole headed out to Europe to perfect his game in a new setting with his close friends Ralen Brown, Jordan Jimenez, and Unlimited Potential Basketball’s Rūta Savickaitė. They started their overseas journey in July, adding the United Kingdom, France and Italy to their passports. 

The four spent three days in London, four days in France, three days in Milan and another three days in Como. With the basketball world being so close knit, it was not hard for Poole to get access to gyms in the different countries. Savickaitė, a Lithuania native had connections with a friend in London, who connected her to people in Paris and Milan.

Although there was a lot of sightseeing and food taste testing in Europe, Poole’s main focus was getting in the gym and putting in the work. Savickaitė and Poole worked out together, and Savickaitė said Poole knew exactly what he wanted to work on in the workouts. 

Working out with Poole has been the first time Director of Basketball Operations, Savickaitė, has been on the court for awhile. Savickaitė started at UPB as a Player Development Coach and had worked out with Poole a few years back before the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Since her work is now mostly off court, she was happy to get back in the basketball gym.

“It's been amazing because I haven't really been working anybody out or been on the basketball court as a trainer in a very long time [since] I'm overseas and I'm doing more administrative work,” Savickaitė said. “It feels really good to be back on court everyday, going to the gym, having a basketball in [my] hands. It's just a good feeling.”

Savickaitė said working with Poole is always fun, and it has been heartwarming to see all of the kids from the different countries know and recognize Poole. Kids were coming up to him and asking for autographs and pictures all over Europe.

Poole started off his Euro Tour in the United Kingdom and it is coming to a close in Italy. There are no plans as of now to extend the tour as the Warriors’ training camp starts up on Saturday, September 24th. The NBA preseason starts on September 30th when Poole and the Warriors face the Washington Wizards.