Joakim Noah broke his six-year exile from Madison Square Garden in February when he went to watch his former and hometown team, the Guardians. new York KnicksDefeated the Memphis Grizzlies 123-113.
But Noah, who was born and raised in New York City, couldn’t tell whether he was playing for the Knicks or Memphis. His longtime teammate, Derrick Rose, was playing for the Grizzlies, and Noah himself played for the Grizzlies. Grizzlies.
“More than the actual teams, I support the players now,” Noah told Fox News Digital in an interview at NBA Night in the Emirates Suite at the U.S. Open last week.
Noah and Rose played together on the Chicago Bulls, where they began their careers in 2007 and 2008, respectively, and then both players moved to the Knicks in 2016.
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Joakim Noah (center) of the Chicago Bulls reacts to a block by LeBron James of the Miami Heat during the first half of the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, Wednesday, May 6, 2013. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/MCT)
However, their shared stint in New York didn’t last long, as Rose moved away the following year and Noah was released in 2018.
For Noah, his jump to New York in 2016 represented the fulfillment of a childhood dream. It put him on the team he grew up watching, the team that inspired him in the ’90s. But it also put him in a place where he couldn’t become who he wanted to be.
“It was frustrating not being able to play for the Knicks at 100%,” Noah said.
“It was a tough experience, because I wasn’t able to compete the way I wanted to, I wasn’t able to express myself on the court the way I wanted to, and it was my childhood dream. So, I want people to know that… it was an experience that didn’t work out the way I wanted to, and that’s life.”
The Knicks signed Noah to a four-year, $72 million contract in 2016, but they released him during the 2018 preseason while he still had two years and $37.8 million remaining.
The season before that, there was an incident in January in which Noah was separated from former Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek. The two got into a physical altercation that was reportedly initiated by the coach. He did not play any more games for the Knicks after that.
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Joakim Noah drives to the basket during a game against the Washington Wizards at Verizon Center on January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC (Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Noah’s first season His 2016-17 season in New York was average for a then-veteran. He averaged 8.8 rebounds along with 5 points and 2.2 assists for the Knicks, which was similar to his previous two seasons in Chicago, but certainly not as good as the numbers he put up as an All-Star in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
But in March 2017, Noh was suspended for 20 games without pay for violating the league’s anti-drug policy after testing positive for a drug called LGD-4033. Noh, who hasn’t played since Feb. 4, will miss the Knicks’ final 10 games of the season because of a left knee injury. The suspension therefore extended through the first 10 games of the 2017-18 season.
Then in April, Noah required surgery for a torn left rotator cuff and will require four to six months of rehabilitation.
As a result, the veteran’s performance declined drastically in Noah’s second season, even before the incident with Hornacek. He played just seven games for the Knicks that year, all on the bench, and averaged just 2 rebounds along with 1.7 points and 0.6 assists.
Soon, Noah’s dream of playing for the Knicks was officially over. He spent the last two years of his career as a journeyman bench player, playing a productive season for Memphis in 2018-19, then playing just five games for the LA Clippers in 2019-20.
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Former NBA player Joakim Noah before the Betclic Elite match between Paris Basketball and AS Monaco at Accor Arena on January 13, 2024 in Paris, France. (Franco Arlanda/Getty Images)
Still, this messy breakup didn’t stop the childhood Knicks fan from enjoying his trip to Madison Square Garden this year, and he couldn’t stop himself from cheering for the players, especially star point guard Jalen Brunson.
“It was an amazing feeling to see the energy in the crowd and the love the players were receiving, it’s totally deserved because this team really is special,” Noah said.
“I remember watching Jalen Brunson play. His dad (Rick Brunson) was my coach with the Bulls. So I remember watching Jalen play in Chicago when he was 11 or 12 years old, and now to see what he’s doing, the humility he’s doing it with, and the way he’s brought stability to basketball in this city, especially as a point guard, it’s really fun to watch.”
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