Joakim Noah

The Chicago Bulls selected Noah as the ninth overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft. Noah and his teammates at Florida, Corey Brewer and Al Horford, became the highest-picked trio from the same college in the history of the NBA. Horford was chosen third overall by the Atlanta Hawks, and Brewer was chosen seventh overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. On November 6, 2007, Noah made his regular season debut off the bench after missing the first three games with a sprained ankle. He scored 2 points and had 4 rebounds. Noah had a rocky start with his team after being given a suspension by a unanimous vote from his teammates in January 2008.[12]

Noah with the Bulls in February 2009

Noah averaged 6.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during the 2008–09 regular season. Noah played a key role in Game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference first-round playoff series between the Bulls and the Boston Celtics. In the final minute of the game's third overtime period, with the score tied at 123–123, he stole the ball from Paul Pierce and dribbled down the court (unusual for a center) for a dunk, drawing Pierce's sixth foul in the process. The Bulls went on to win the game 128–127,[13] though they would lose the series in Game 7.

During the 2009–10 season, Noah averaged 10.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He only played 64 games due to injury. The Bulls once again made the playoffs, securing the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, Noah averaged 14.8 points per game and 13.0 rebounds, but the Bulls lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round in five games.

Noah with the Bulls in February 2011, contesting with Kevin Séraphin of the Washington Wizards

On October 4, 2010, Noah signed a five-year, $60 million contract extension with the Bulls.[14] On December 15, 2010, the Bulls announced that due to ligament damage in Noah's hand, he would have surgery and miss 8 to 10 weeks. Noah was averaging 14 points and 11.7 rebounds in the 24 games prior to his injury. He returned to action in the 55th game of the season on February 23 after recuperating from right thumb surgery. He scored 7 points and had 16 rebounds in just over 24 minutes.[15] He returned to the inactive list for games 74, 75 and 76.

On February 22, 2012, Noah recorded his first career triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the first triple-double by a Bulls center since Artis Gilmore recorded one in 1977.[16]

On December 7, 2012, Noah recorded his career highs of 30 points and 23 rebounds in a win against the Detroit Pistons.[17] On December 18, 2012, he recorded his second ever triple-double, scoring 11 points, grabbing 13 rebounds and providing a career-high-tying 10 assists, in a 100–89 victory over the Boston Celtics.[18] On January 24, 2013, Noah was named as a reserve in the 2013 NBA All-Star Game, representing the Chicago Bulls alongside teammate Luol Deng. He became the Bulls' first All-Star center since Artis Gilmore in 1982. He played 16 minutes in the game, scoring 8 points and collecting 10 rebounds in the East's loss. On February 28, 2013, Noah recorded his third career triple-double, scoring 23 points, collecting 21 rebounds and blocking a career-high 11 shots in Chicago's 93–82 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. In doing so, Noah both tied a franchise record for blocks in a regular season game set by Artis Gilmore on December 20, 1977, and joined Hakeem Olajuwon, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shawn Bradley, Shaquille O'Neal, and Elvin Hayes as the only players to record a triple-double of 20-20-10 in points, rebounds, and blocks since blocks began being recorded, and the only player among them to do so while shooting 65 percent from the field.[19]

From December 28, 2013 to February 1, 2014, Noah had an 18-game streak of 10 or more rebounds, averaging 13.9 rebounds during that stretch. Such streak was ended on February 4, 2014 in a game against the Sacramento Kings as Joakim was ejected from the game after complaining due to a controversial foul call against him. Noah erupted and verbally abused the referees, resulting in a $15,000 fine from the NBA.[20] On January 30, 2014, Joakim Noah was named a reserve in the 2014 NBA All-Star Game for the second time in his career.[21] He played 21 minutes in the game (including the entire fourth quarter) and scored 8 points, collected 5 rebounds and had 5 assists while helping the East to win 163–155.[22] On February 11, 2014, Noah recorded his fourth career triple-double in a 100–85 win against the Atlanta Hawks, finishing the game with 19 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists.[23] On February 19, 2014, Joakim accounted for 13 assists in a 94–92 road win against the Toronto Raptors. By doing so, he became the first NBA center with 3 games of 10+ assists in a season since Brad Miller of the Sacramento Kings in 2005–06 and the only center with 13 assists in a game since Vlade Divac in April 1996.[24]

On March 2, 2014, Noah recorded his fifth career triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists in a 109–90 win over the New York Knicks. Noah's 14 assists was the most ever by a Bulls center, and the most by a center in the NBA since 1986.[25] Three days later, in a 105–94 win over the Detroit Pistons, Noah recorded yet another triple-double finishing the game with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.[26] Joakim finished the month of March with 120 assists, the most by an NBA center since Wilt Chamberlain had 155 in March 1968.[27] On April 9, 2014, Noah had 15 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in a 102–87 road win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, his fourth triple-double of the season.[28] On April 21, 2014, Noah was awarded the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for the first time in his career. He is the second Chicago Bull to win the award, after Michael Jordan who won it in the 1987–88 season.[29]

On June 4, 2014, Noah was named to the 2014 All-NBA first team.[30]

On January 27, 2015, Noah had a season-best game with 18 points and 15 rebounds in a 113–111 overtime win over the Golden State Warriors.[31] He finished the season averaging 7.2 points and 9.6 rebounds, his lowest averages since the 2009–10 season.

Noah lost his starting spot to Nikola Mirotić during the 2015 preseason, coming off the bench in his first 23 consecutive games of the 2015–16 season.[32] Following a quadruple overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons on December 18, starting center Pau Gasol did not travel to New York for the Bulls' December 19 game against the Knicks. In his absence, Noah started in his first game of the season and subsequently scored a season-high 21 points. He also grabbed 10 rebounds in the game, six of them offensive, thus becoming the Bulls' career leader in offensive boards, passing Horace Grant (1,888).[33] On December 23, he was ruled out for two to four weeks because of a slight tear within his sprained left shoulder, an injury he suffered in the Bulls' December 21 game against the Brooklyn Nets.[34] After missing nine consecutive games with the injury, he returned to action on January 11, recording 9 rebounds and 4 assists off the bench in a loss to the Washington Wizards.[35] On January 14, he made just his second start of the season, replacing the injured Pau Gasol. In 38 minutes of action, he recorded 6 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 1 block in a 115–111 overtime win over the Philadelphia 76ers.[36] In the next game the following night, Noah re-injured his left shoulder against the Dallas Mavericks.[37] He was subsequently ruled out for four to six months after it was determined that he required surgery to stabilize his left shoulder.[38]

Noah with the Knicks in 2017

On July 8, 2016, Noah signed a four-year, $72 million contract with his hometown team, the New York Knicks.[39][40] A questionable contract at the time, it was later labeled "disastrous"[41] and the "worst signing in franchise history".[42] On February 27, 2017, he underwent a left knee arthroscopy to remove a loose body, and was subsequently ruled out for at least three to four weeks.[43] On March 25, 2017, Noah was suspended for 20 games without pay for violating the league's anti-drug policy. Noah, having not played since February 4, was likely to miss the Knicks' final 10 games of the season because of a left knee injury anyway. The suspension carried over into the first 10 games of the 2017–18 season.[44] Noah, unaware of his violation, did not appeal his suspension.[45] On April 12, 2017, it was deemed that Noah required surgery for a left torn rotator cuff and would need four to six months to rehabilitate.[46]

On November 27, 2017, the Knicks activated Noah and gave him his first playing time since February. Noah entered the Knicks' contest against the Portland Trail Blazers in the second quarter and had a three-minute stint, making his only shot attempt and grabbing a rebound.[47] Two days later, he was assigned to the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League for a one-day stint, playing for Westchester that night in a loss against the Maine Red Claws.[48][49] In January 2018, Noah went into exile from the Knicks after having a heated verbal altercation with coach Jeff Hornacek.[50] Noah appeared in just seven games during the 2017–18 season, averaging 5.7 minutes off the bench.[50]

On October 13, 2018, the Knicks released Noah via the stretch-provision waiver. Using the stretch provision will allow the Knicks to save $12.6 million in cap space in 2019. Noah, who had $38 million left on his contract, was reluctant to give up any money on the remaining two years of his deal. The delay in waiving him was the Knicks trying to get Noah to give up more money in a buyout.[42]

On December 4, 2018, Noah signed with the Memphis Grizzlies for the remainder of the season.[51] On February 9, 2019, he had season highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds in a 99–90 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.[52] On February 22, 2019, he recorded 22 points (with 12 free throws) and 11 rebounds in a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.[53]

On March 9, 2020, Noah signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.[54][55] In early December 2020, Noah was waived by the Clippers.[56]

• 2006 Associated Press (AP) All-SEC First Team[67]
• Named an Honorable Mention All-American by AP.
• Most Outstanding Player in the 2006 Final Four[68]
• NCAA Men's Division I basketball champion – 2006, 2007

• 2× NBA All-Star: 2013, 2014
• NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 2014
• All-NBA First Team: 2014
• 2× NBA All-Defensive First Team: 2013, 2014
• NBA All-Defensive Second Team: 2011
• J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award: 2015