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New York Knicks center Joakim Noah is currently dealing with an illness according to head coach Jeff Hornacek. The veteran big man did not accompany the team for their upcoming two-game road trip in order to avoid the possibility of him infecting his teammates.
Jeff Hornacek said Joakim Noah didn't make the two-game trip because he's ill, and he didn't want to risk him getting the other players sick.
— Al Iannazzone (@Al_Iannazzone) November 24, 2017
However, Noah’s absence really shouldn’t have much of an effect on the Knicks as they prepare for back-to-back games on the road against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and the Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Noah has yet to play even a single minute after being cleared from his 12-game suspension to start the season. Hornacek has decided to go with a center rotation of Enes Kanter and Kyle O’Quinn, with second-year big man Willy Hernangomez also having his playing time drastically cut along with Noah.
No one is really doubting Hornacek’s decisions these days, though, seeing as the Knicks have made an impressive 10-7 start to the year.
Things aren’t bound to change for the 32-year-old, who is in just the second year of the massive four-year, $72 million contract he signed in the summer of 2016. The Knicks don’t appear to have him in their long-term plans, and he will likely just spend more time sitting on the bench once he recovers from his illness and rejoins the team.
