Joakim Noah to Sign and Retire With the Chicago Bulls

Joakim Noah is coming home, to retire.

According to a report from The Athletic, the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year is “effectively retiring” as a player, and the plan is for him to retire as a member of the Chicago Bulls.

The 36-year old Noah was the heart and soul of the most successful stretch in Chicago Bulls history since the Michael Jordan dynasty, playing alongside Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, and Luol Deng. He intends on signing a ceremonial contract with Chicago so he can retire as a Bull, just like what former teammate Deng did in 2019.

9th Pick of the 2007 NBA Draft

Noah was the Bulls’ 9th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft out of Florida after leading the Gators to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 07 under head coach Billy Donovan. He spent nine seasons with the Bulls, helping the team make seven straight playoff appearances from 2009 to 2015. Chicago had the NBA’s best record in two of those seasons and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals on one of those campaigns.

As a member of the Bulls, he played in a total of 572 regular season games, making two All-Star appearances, two All-NBA Defensive First team selections, one All-NBA First team selection, while also winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award during the 2013-14 NBA season.

Noah left Chicago in the infamous 2016 free agency where he signed a four-year $72M deal with the New York Knicks. However, he appeared in only 53 total games across two seasons with the Knicks. He was later waived by New York, and his contract stretched with the team owing him $4.6M annually until the 2021-22 NBA season. He also enjoyed brief stints with the Memphis Grizzlies during the 2018-19 season and the L.A. Clippers last season. The Clippers waived Noah last December.

11-Block Triple Double

Noah had many career-highlights but the one that stands out as the game that best describes his heart, hustle, and muscle career was the Bulls’ game against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 28, 2013, where he recorded his third career triple double. In that game, Noah scored 23 points, grabbed 21 rebounds, and blocked a career-high 11 shots, becoming only the sixth player in the history of the NBA to record a triple double of 20-20-10 via points, rebounds, and blocks.

The son of former tennis superstar Yannick Noah finishes his NBA career with averages of 8.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in a total of 672 regular season games with 512 starts. Noah was one of the NBA’s most ferocious defenders during his prime and put an emphasis on defense with his physical style of play.

But injuries slowed him down during the back end of his NBA career, including a freak September 2019 injury where he dropped a steel ice tub and cut his Achilles tendon. Noah was limited to only 129 regular season games beginning the 2015-16 season and he played in 53 games over the course of his final two NBA seasons.