Joakim Noah did not have the end of his career he would have deserved. After giving everything to the Bulls for nine years, the hub almost left Illinois through the back door, ultimately only playing 29 games in his final season in 2015/16 due to injury.
A free agent in the summer of 2016, he then chose to join the Knicks for what was to be a renaissance as he returned to the city where he had grown up, signing a four-year, $ 72 million contract at the age 31. Except that the story did not go as planned, the repeated injuries, to the shoulder and knee in particular, prevented him from regaining his best level. Joakim Noah spoke about this difficult time on the microphone of the “Knuckleheads” podcast, hosted by Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson.
“It was tough because that’s where the injuries started to follow. I signed a big contract with the Knicks, so expectations were high. But I had three surgeries in the space of a year. On the one hand, it was a privilege, because I was paid very well. But at the same time, I was sad not to be able to bring as I used to do ”, he regretted. “Injuries are part of the story, and make you grow as a man. You have to be able to say to yourself: ‘You know what, I’m not the same guy at 32 years old as when I was 25’. We all go through this, and you have to know how to accept it. Sometimes I couldn’t. It was an apprenticeship. All that ego shit, you have to be able to let it go and be honest with yourself and where you are at. It was a difficult transition, but in the end, I wouldn’t change my course for the world ”.
Playing in spite of the pain, a bet he paid at a dear price
With hindsight, Yannick Noah’s son felt that he might have been able to better manage this overwhelming determination by sometimes agreeing to rest, for the good of his body quite simply. The “load management” would undoubtedly have allowed him to play a few more years or in any case offer him another end of his career.
“I’ve always done that. And now looking back, I tell myself that I could have been a smarter one during my career. And I think the NBA does a better job today by watching the players a little more. When I was playing, it was: “As long as you can go, go”. It was hard. I took a lot of things to alleviate the pain ”, he added. “People show their affection for you, just because you want to win and are ready to fight despite all these hiccups. And I have received a lot of affection during my career for that. Because I was playing despite it all. But it’s a fragile balance, because it’s still your body, and after a while, everything can fall apart. You cannot continuously hide the pain…. At the end of the day, it’s the life we chose to lead ”.
“As if we were coming back from the war”added Darius Miles. “Today, the players are more protected, and that’s a good thing”“Jooks” continued. “At the time, it was: ‘We pay him so many millions of dollars, he better go on the field. “
