The Chicago Bulls, who started the season to beat the New York Knicks 103-104 at home, but people won't dwell on DeRozan's final-minute mid-range shooting misses because today's protagonist is only one — the last center who took them to the East, Jokim Noah.
Today it is officially named "Noah's Day" by the Bulls.
Having retired in March, he returned to chicago's Union Center. Signed a ceremonial contract to be able to retire as a Bulls player. When the second quarter of the game was suspended, the United Center stood up and applauded him. And his best friend, his most legendary comrade-in-arms Derek Rose, was also waving at him in a Knicks jersey.
Everything is so beautiful.
This is not the first time the Bulls have held such a ceremony, in 2019 they also signed "Iron Man" Rohr Deng Day, allowing him to retire as a Bulls player.
In 2004, he signed back "Batman" Pippen, who had been playing outside for six years, and completed the final season in the Bulls.
The teams that have truly inherited the championship in history know how to treat the celebrities who have brought glory and glory to them.
And today, it's Noah's turn.
Nine years of playing, two All-Stars, seven playoffs, one East Final,
Defensive Player of the Year, League First (2013-14),
Three-time Best Defensive Team.
He was Rose's most loyal comrade-in-arms, the patron saint of the Bull Forbidden Zone.
The big man, who entered the league with the ninth pick in the first round in 2007, debuted with a rugged and wild appearance, long fluffy hair, an arrogant ponytail, and a smile of sarcasm and mockery from time to time. In the face of such a fanatic, it is difficult for you to associate him with the "noble prince" and "rich second generation".
But in fact, his grandfather Zachary Noah was a famous football star in Cameroon, and his father, Janik Noah, was a famous tennis player, won the French Open, the Davis Cup, and later became a famous musician. Her mother was the runner-up Miss Sweden and Miss Universe in 1978, and her sister is now a supermodel. After the real sports family and famous doors.
Although he inherited his father's athletic talent and his mother's delicate figure, Noah did not become a beautiful teenager in people's minds. He studied at the university of Florida, a basketball school, but became the team's basketball patron saint and defensive monster, shocking every opponent with almost upside-down game enthusiasm.
Coach Billy Donovan, who led them to two consecutive NCAA titles in 2006-07 and now in charge of the Chicago Bulls, once said of Noah:
"He has an endless amount of energy all over his body, and a lot of times I have to remind him, relax a little baby, we've beaten the other side down."
But he is a real and quiet boy who grew up in Paris, his parents divorced at the age of 13 and followed his father to New York. This young man of African descent, but who grew up in the fashion capitals of Europe and the United States, is very fond of poetry, painting, and especially african culture.
Coming to the Bulls, the team was in the early stages of a renaissance. In his rookie season, he went through three managers, Skies, Mayer and Boylan, and with a record of 33 wins and 49 losses, he failed to make it to the playoffs, but the team was lucky enough to win the 2009 title, so they got Derrick Rose.
At that time, rose and Noah probably did not expect that they would become their closest comrades-in-arms, their closest friends.
In the 2008–09 season, they reached the playoffs and played seven games against the defending champions. Rose scored 36 points in his first playoff game, the only thing in history for Jabbar. Facing Rondo, who is at the peak, he averaged 20+6+6 per game. Noah fought with perkins on the inside and was able to score 10.1 points and 13.1 rebounds.
Although the bulls lost seven games in the end, it was a battle of nirvana in which the young bulls were reborn.
In the 2010-11 season, Iron-Blooded Coach Thibodeau took charge of the Bulls, and Noah and Rose each took off.
Around Rose, Thibodeau built a tough defensive, fast-attacking predatory bull,
Around Noah, Thibodeau, who had assisted Rivers to win the championship in 2008, built a set of fierce pressure and strong style defensive system.
"I know there's a big difference between the two, but in this team, Noah is my KG!" Thibodeau stressed the importance of Noah more than once.
And KG is precisely the idol and role model of Noah's youth.
That year's Bulls terrified the whole league, and Rose, who was still incredibly healthy, was behind the steel defense that Noah, Royle Dun, and Gibson had built for him. They hit 62-20 through the crazy strangleholding on the defensive end and Rose's assault, not only beating the newly formed "Heat Big Three" to the first place in the league, but also averaging 25.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game.
It was the youngest MVP in league history and the only MVP trophy leBron had lost in five years.
The friendship between the two people who fought side by side also deepened day by day, one with a face as heavy as water and a fierce fire in his heart, and a fierce on the field, but privately as calm and sincere as the ocean.
Ross wrote in his autobiography:
Aside from Randall Hampton in high school, my closest teammate was Joakim Noah.
There are a lot of people who don't want to be with him, mainly because they think there's something wrong with him, or because of his outspokenness.
But I have a lot of respect for his personality because I know him well. I love people like him and the way he does things, he's a loving man with a free soul, I wish my son had grown up like him, and Jokkim (Noah) is a great role model.
Noah practiced their friendship with practical actions, and after a glorious MVP season, Rose was quickly knocked down by injuries. In the days without Rose, Coach Thibodeau creatively transformed Noah into the team's offensive axis.
In the 2013-14 season, Noah not only had to arch the Bulls' penalty area like Rodman, repeatedly fanning the opponent's impact on the basket and fighting for rebounds, but also in the offensive end he became the team's offensive command tower, connecting the attacks of Dun, Butler, Augustine, And Dunlliver, who were outside fighters.
Rose only played 10 games in that season, but Noah averaged 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks in 80 games, and his overall performance not only supported the Bulls to play third in the East, but also won the best defensive player and the league's first team.
But when the fans at The Union Center chanted "mvp" for his wonderful performance, he said firmly after the game:
"There's only one mvp here and his name is Derek Rose"
In Chicago, he was the best guardian. Under Thibodeau, known for his harsh rule and "fierce players", he and Rolle Deng were role models who charged forward, worked hard and devoted themselves.
He and the Bull dreamed of bringing down LeBron and breaking Emperor Zhan's absolute rule over the East. So he would applaud the quarrel between Bosh and Chalmers "nervously" on the court, and would mercilessly belittle the badness of the city of Cleveland when facing the Cavaliers.
"Every time I come to Cleveland I honestly stay in the hotel, it's so bad here. Open the window in a deserted area, have you ever heard of anyone coming to Cleveland on vacation? ”
But he was frank and sincere off the field, and he had established good friendships with almost all his teammates, and today the old bull almost came to him to cheer him up. Rohr Dun, Boozer, Sefolosha, Sinrich, Asik, Kurt Thomas, Nosioni, as well as Rose, Gibson, and current Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who is on the sidelines.
These deceased people, who are still fighting on the battlefield or have not appeared for a long time, have come to witness the big man who shielded them from the wind and rain, the big day of his career.
"It's really fantastic, we've been through so much together but we're still in close contact." In the interview Noah said emotionally.
The Bulls, who had been entangled with LeBron for years, disintegrated in 2016, and they didn't play in the playoffs in the ninth consecutive playoffs in the regular season, 42-40. So the management decided to end the "Rose era", they traded Rose to New York, and also allowed Noah to sign a 4-year, 72 million contract with the Knicks.
"I went home and it felt so good. And with Rose, Chicago is his hometown, but New York is my turf. ”
But years of conquest and fighting style have overdrawn Noah's body. He played just 53 games in the Knicks, 4.6 points and 7.9 rebounds, and serious left knee and left shoulder injuries forced him to accept a career decline in advance.
Finally in 2018, the Knicks decisively bought out him with a one-year contract left in advance.
Later, he signed with the Grizzlies and Clippers, but his time was over. Thirty-year-olds can't keep up with the fast-paced rush of the NBA today, and the defense and organization he has become famous for is far from being worth a three-pointer.
But perhaps Noah has never regarded the NBA as his own job, he grew up with no worries and a superior family, but because of his love, he chose a completely different and difficult path. On the NBA court, he is more desperate than most poor teenagers from the street, fighting for every ball. If most people struggle for a job and a future, then what they are pursuing is probably love and dreams.
Although it is only now officially retired, the new life belonging to Noah has already begun.
He has always been passionate about philanthropy and has his own foundation, Noah's Ark, dedicated to the growth of young people.
He also participated in the 2013 Yao Foundation Charity Game and received the 2015 NBA Kennedy Citizenship Award, which recognizes NBA players, coaches, and staff who are committed to community causes.
Before the start of today's game, he was officially announced by the Bulls as the team's ambassador. Help the Bulls forge closer ties with communities in Chicago, and the team will also donate annually to the Noah's Ark Foundation.
He has a lovely son, and in 2019 he successfully proposed to Victoria's Secret supermodel Les Ribeiro, and his life after retirement is as perfect as today's "Noah's Day".
Perhaps only when he leaves this bloody stadium can we truly see the "dancing nobleman" side of Jokim Noah.