Joakim Noah, one of the most popular and passionate players in Bulls' franchise history, could be headed to retirement after the Los Angeles Clippers waived the 35-year-old center to make room for the signing of Nic Batum.
Noah overcame a freak injury in September 2019 that cut his Achilles tendon to sign a 10-day contract with the Clippers prior to the pandemic shutting down the 2019-20 season last March. He then played five games for the Clippers during the league's restart in Orlando, Fla. His contract would've become guaranteed on Dec. 21.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news that Noah's illustrious, 13-year career could be over, which a source confirmed. Noah's greatest moments came with the Bulls, who drafted him ninth overall in 2017. He earned two All-Star berths, won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2014 and finished fourth in most valuable player voting that season after averaging 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals.
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Noah, who also played for the New York Knicks and Memphis Grizzlies, recently spoke to NBC Sports Chicago about the Bulls' hiring of Billy Donovan, his college coach at Florida. The pair won two national titles together.
"I’m happy for the Bulls’ organization because they’re getting a great coach, somebody who is an unbelievable motivator and somebody who is family to me," Noah said in September. "When they decided to name the (Florida) court ‘Billy Donovan Court’ all his old players came to support him. That just says a lot about who is as a man and who he is as a person — just the fact everybody would show up for his celebration.
“He’s someone who cares about his players, someone who is very demanding, someone who is very competitive and just has a great balance to him. It’s a great hire.”
Noah became a fan favorite for his passionate play and primal screams on the court and his humor and honesty off it. He played 572 games overall for the Bulls.
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