"Jo was all heart..." - Joakim Noah Night in Chicago

jeffphillips21 · Oct 28, 2021

'Jo was all heart': What the magnetic, trash-talking, fearless Joakim Noah meant to the Bulls

Great article of Noah on espn.com today. Tonight is "Joakim Noah Night" in Chicago. While Billy D is head coach. How cool is that.
I miss him and his energy...wish he was still playing

Ahab · Oct 28, 2021

I tried to post this earlier but it didn't go through?

"Competition is not pretty, and that's why people like it," Noah says. "There are beautiful moments and terrible moments. Competition has brought out the most beautiful sides of me, but also the most terrible sides. That's the beauty of competition. It's real. It's emotions at their rawest. It's some new-age gladiator s---, and I played that way."

He has never established a post-playing relationship with James, and does not regret going right at him. "There's a lot of things I respect about LeBron," Noah says. "But between those lines, nah, f--- that."

THE BULLS FIGURED they would face the Heat and over and over. That summer, Noah traveled back to Florida and asked his college coaches to help him perfect passing out of the short roll -- a counter to Miami's blitzing defense.

Chicago earned the No. 1 seed in 2011-12, boasting the league's fattest point differential and the best offense of the Thibodeau era. But up by 12 late in Game 1 of the first round, Rose tore his left ACL.

The Bulls never regained their standing. There would be no epic rivalry with Miami. "We really believed we were gonna win that championship," Noah says. "That was our time. Derrick represented that much hope. Every time he stepped onto the court, we had the most special player in the world. That's a lot of hope to carry on one person."

Rose, still among Noah's closest friends, was never the same.

"When I found out Derrick tore his ACL, I remember the smells, who I was with, everything," Noah says. "I had the same feeling of when I saw the plane hit the tower [on Sept. 11, 2001]. People will be like, 'He's crazy for saying that.' No. I'm telling you how I felt."
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GatorPlanet · Oct 28, 2021

Like Ray Stantz was the heart of the Ghostbusters, Jo was the heart of the Gators.

gatortenor37 · Oct 28, 2021

Ahab said: ↑

I tried to post this earlier but it didn't go through?
Click to expand...

You posted it in the football forum.

jeffphillips21 · Oct 29, 2021

Noah was named Bulls team ambassador tonight. What an honor for him. And while Billy D is the coach

Here's his tribute video:

eastowest · Oct 29, 2021

g8wayg8r · Oct 29, 2021

Didn't he get into trouble with the coach taking players to task?

jeffphillips21 · Oct 30, 2021

g8wayg8r said: ↑

Didn't he get into trouble with the coach taking players to task?
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maybe, but they likely deserved it

spike718 · Oct 30, 2021

g8wayg8r said: ↑

Didn't he get into trouble with the coach taking players to task?
Click to expand...

When he was a rookie. Vets didn’t appreciate it.

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