NEWSLETTER
Joakim Noah hasn’t played in an NBA game since September 2020, but he still can’t stand the thought of losing.
The Chicago Bulls legend recently appeared on an episode of The OGs Podcast with Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller for an extensive conversation about his basketball career. Of course, this meant a large chunk of their discussion revolved around his time in the Windy City. The three also couldn’t help but discuss the early-2010s rivalry between the Bulls and Heat, as both Haslem and Miller were a part of the Miami team that sent Chicago packing in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Reflecting on what it was like not to make it past the former East juggernauts and win a ring, Noah confessed how much it still haunts him:
“I’m almost 40 years old and there is a lot of trauma that comes with losing at the highest level. The world’s watching. These are the biggest games. You train your whole year thinking about these moments and you fall short. This is not an easy thing even 10 years late to talk about. This is how much this sh*t means to me personally when you talk about winning and losing,” Joakim Noah said.
It’s hard to get more Joakim Noah than that!
The big man was one of the fiercest competitors the organization had ever seen, and the fact those playoff losses still eat at him is the least surprising news ever. Don’t get me wrong, I want him to look back on his career with only fond memories, but Noah wouldn’t be Noah without that permanent chip on his shoulder.
The entire interview does a great job showing just how much Joakim Noah’s time in Chicago resonated with him. He raves about several of his former teammates – including Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich – and talks about how many screws were loose in Tom Thibodeau’s head (in a good way).
The interview also wouldn’t be complete without Joakim Noah talking about his other favorite city! The former DPOY said he still gets people from Cleveland coming up to him to express their frustration with his previous comments. In fact, he shared a story about a DJ in a club recently going over the mic to call him out. While he didn’t necessarily walk back his famous remarks, he did stress that his comments were far more about the man who represented the city – LeBron James – than the community itself.
“Still to this day, [for] people it really hits different. When I see people from Cleveland, they are not happy about this sh*t … what people need to understand is it has nothing to do with Cleveland and it has everything to do with that motherf******, LeBron James,” Joakim Noah told Haslem and Miller.
Still, the nicest thing Noah said about The Land was this: “There are other cities just as whack as Cleveland!”
You tell him, Joakim! Never change!
I encourage you to catch the full discussion with Noah on The OGs YouTube page. I promise it will not disappoint!
