Memphis Grizzlies center Joakim Noah is back in Chicago on Wednesday to take on the Bulls, so the veteran center linked up with Bulls Hall of Fame writer Sam Smith to talk about some of his favorite memories in a Chicago uniform.
Joakim Noah spent the first nine years of his NBA career with the Bulls. He was a two-time All-Star and won the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year award.
The energy and passion which Noah played with made him a fan favorite in Chicago, and he will likely get a standing ovation on Wednesday from the United Center crowd.
One of Noah's favorite memories with the Bulls includes Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich. Noah tells the story about how Rose wouldn't let Kirk Hinrich guard Steve Nash during the 2008-09 season because Rose wanted to stick Nash and shut him down.
“We are playing Phoenix with Vinny (Del Negro) as coach,” Joakim Noah told Sam Smith of Bulls.com. “Kirk was our best pick and roll defender and so Vinny goes, ‘Kirk, you got Steve Nash.' And D-Rose is a rookie and goes, ‘Nah, I got Steve Nash. I'm not running from no matchup.' And Vinny goes, ‘But Kirk is our best pick and roll defender, you got Barbosa.' He goes, ‘Nah, I got Steve Nash.'
“And so we're like, ‘Oh crap, the rookie's talking like that?' Then in the game you see D-Rose standing next to Steve Nash. ‘I got him! I got him!' Things like that, stuff we'd laugh at being on the plane, rolling dice with Drew Gooden; it was always more than just the basketball.”
Derrick Rose was a fierce competitor from the first day he stepped on an NBA court. He is still the youngest player in NBA history to win the MVP award at 22-years-old.
It's easy to see why Joakim Noah and Rose are such great friends off the court.
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