Joakim Noah is going to be celebrated by the Chicago Bulls next night, to pay tribute to his career and the huge impact he has had on the city of Chicago and the revival of the Bulls. Cut by the Los Angeles Clippers in December 2020, the French spent 13 years in the NBA and can boast of having had a very good career.
If he had obviously disappeared a little from the circulation, as much because of his choice to sign in New York than because of his injuries, “Jooks” will be remembered. Of course, that won’t be the case with everyone he’s crossed swords with on NBA pitches, but many people miss him, starting with us. It is not for nothing that he was chosen to be exceptional editor-in-chief of Mook Chicago!
Mook REVERSE # 7: Chicago, land of legends
He didn’t give a damn about LeBron and the superstars
Even today, many players are very, sometimes too, respectful of legends like LeBron James on the pitch and fail to give the best of themselves when facing them. With Joakim noah, it never was and it was still damn badass to see him constantly warming himself with the King.
From their first clashes at the Chicago-Cleveland, we immediately felt that “Jooks” was neither in adoration, nor in wonder. Rather a form of annoyance with a very clear desire to get into his face when he was doing a little too much. Even from the bench, with bad words and all ????
His relationship with the city of Cleveland still made us laugh all these years. And more generally, its almost total absence of filter was a breath of fresh air.
He had the best regular season for a Frenchman in the NBA
Tony Parker achieved the legendary feat of being named MVP of the Finals with the San Antonio Spurs. But never has a French basketball player been as strong as Joakim Noah over an entire regular season. Rudy Gobert has come close to that being the best defenseman in the league and a member of an All-NBA 2nd Team, which is already absolutely phenomenal.
But tell yourself that in 2014, when he was also voted Defensive Player of the Year, “Jooks” was also the best player of the Bulls and one of the strongest players in the best league in the world.
Kevin Durant won the MVP title that year, ahead of LeBron James and Blake Griffin. Just behind, we find Joakim Noah, 4th with splendid stats: 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.5 against and 1.2 interception on average.
Joakim Noah looks back on his “LeBron hater” image
He’s a college basketball legend
It is not known if Joakim Noah will ever have the honor of entering the Hall of Fame. For now, it seems a bit complicated. But in NCAA, the career of “Jooks” has been nothing short of exceptional. Winning a university title is already a very strong accomplishment in the United States. To win two in a row is a small miracle. Yet this is what Noah did with his Florida Gators buddies, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green or Marreese Speights, in 2006 and 2007.
The first year, the New Yorker was even elected MOP of the Final Four during the first coronation. Already, you could feel that the boy had more rage and desire to succeed than the average person.
He succeeded despite the label of “son of”
Admittedly, Joakim Noah had the relative advantage of not growing up in France, where his father is a sports legend and constantly one of the stars of the ranking of “French favorites of the French”. It is not known how her career would have developed if she had started in France, but something tells us that in any case the boy had the mental strength and the work ethic to break through.
Whatever the context, Noah is to this day one of the few “sons of” to have succeeded in excelling in their sport, even when it was a question of a discipline different from that of the father. He was able to count on the support of Yannick, whose pride and passion we cannot forget live on American TV in front of the performances of his offspring.
He did not come to the selection for nothing
We would obviously have liked to see him more often in the jersey of the France team. But at least we will not wonder forever what would have given Joakim Noah in selection. He came once and no matter what, walked away with a silver medal at Eurobasket 2011 in Lithuania. His presence was not enough to bring down Spain, but his rage to win had obviously been a plus for the Blues.
