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New York Knicks center Joakim Noah has not really been part of the team much this season.
He has played in only seven games and is averaging just 5.7 minutes in those games, per Basketball-Reference.
But on Thursday, the Knicks received news that meant the team would see even less of Noah for the immediate future. Noah left the team for “personal reasons” and will miss the next two games, per Ian Begley of ESPN.
Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek refused to comment on the reasoning for Noah's absence, per Begley.
“We're not going to comment on that stuff. Personal reasons; he won't be with us for a couple of games,” the coach said, according to published reports. “He works hard to keep himself in shape. He's professional that way. It's always tough when you want to play.”
This seems very strange. As previously mentioned, Joakim Noah is largely out of the rotation in New York, and that must be frustrating as a player to go through that. But now Noah is just leaving the team, seemingly at random, and missing games as well.
Personal reasons could mean anything, and part of the reason that designation is used is for privacy. Sometimes there's a death in the family or some other serious matter a player has to attend to, and “personal reasons” is put on box scores so as not to display a player's business to the entire world.
Whatever the reason is, the Knicks have to be hoping that it is nothing serious or anything having to do with his playing time on the team.
