Joakim Noah agreed to join Derrick Rose on the New York Knicks to the tune of four years and $72 million. Noah, who grew up in New York, has never shied away from his Big Apple roots. It only took the Knicks' team led by Phil Jackson, Steve Mills and Jeff Hornacek three hours in an Orlando-area hotel to officially bring him home. Even before the news came out though, Noah posted a photo of himself wearing a Knicks cap on Instagram, signaling an announcement was imminent.
With Pau Gasol surely on his way out next, the starting center job is Robin Lopez's to lose. In fact, he's the only true center currently under contract. Cristiano Felicio is the only other player on the roster who could fill that position, starting or not, so Gar Forman and John Paxson will likely sign a free agent to add depth there. Both guard positions need some help too, but don't count on the team making a big splash as all indications seem to be the front office is waiting a year or two to do it.
As for Noah, the longest-tenured Bull until Friday, he leaves behind an ecstatic personality and hard-nosed work ethic that gave life to a group Chicago will always hold near and dear. His dunk on Paul Pierce in the 2009 playoffs is an iconic moment in Bulls history and it jumpstarted a career many felt couldn't happen when he was drafted while dressed to the extreme in 2007. Even fewer felt it was possible when, coming off a one-game suspension his rookie year, his teammates voted to bench him for a second straight contest.
But Noah proved his basketball career could flourish beyond the back-to-back national titles he won at Florida. When Rose tore his meniscus early in the 2013-14 season, Noah put the team on his back for the rest of it. Taking on a point center role and cranking his defensive game up tenfold, he earned his second straight All-Star selection, became Defense Player of the Year and was named to the All-NBA First Team. Despite earning home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs that year, the Bulls couldn't overcome the loss of Rose and got bounced in five games by the Washington Wizards.
Noah also proved he was more than just a legitimate NBA player. His Noah's Arc Foundation has helped children with self-expression and his anti-violence initiative has shown his deep concern for the violence that is sadly a way of life in Chicago. This is an amazing transition for someone who needed the Newtown school shooting to occur to end his six-shooter celebration, even though he had spoken out on gun violence before that. In 2015, he won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, a culmination for the man he came to be.
The breakup of a Bulls team that had a shot at a championship has been tough to swallow, but Noah's departure might be the most difficult part of it. Chicago has always thrown love back at athletes who epitomize the blue-collar work ethic it symbolizes. Noah did his best with what he had and didn't surround himself with controversy the way others in the organization did the past few years. It's unfortunate his body started to slow him down and sideline him frequently because before that, the way he played on the court and carried himself off it was something to be admired.
So as we bid farewell to Noah's nine years with this team, let us wish him well in all his future endeavors. It was time to move on, but that shouldn't make us think less of him. He will always have a place here in Chicago even if he electrifies Madison Square Garden instead of the United Center. In his case, 13 was almost always a lucky number.
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