<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/chicago-bulls/bulls-news-noa-essengues-joakim-noah-take-will-immediately-endear-him-fans');   ga('set', 'title', 'Noa Essengue’s Joakim Noah take will immediately endear him to Bulls fans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Noa-Essengue_7ee543.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Noa Essengue’s Joakim Noah take will immediately endear him to Bulls fans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-25T21:11:04-07:00">June 25th, 9:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-25T21:11:04-07:00">June 25th, 9:11pm</time><address><a>Scotty White</a>Scotty White is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has been in the sports journalism industry since 2020. He has covered athletics at the University of Michigan and is now serving as an Associate Editor, Chicago Bulls beat writer, and Michigan football reporter at ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Chicago Bulls used the 12th pick in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/chicago-bulls/grading-chicago-bulls-noa-essengue-2025-nba-draft-pick">2025 NBA Draft to select French prospect Noa Essengue</a>. Essengue has been playing professional basketball in Germany, and now he is ready to make the move to the Windy City. He has the build and athleticism to be a star, but he certainly has some developing to do. Because of that, Bulls fans have some mixed reactions about the pick. However, every fan in Chicago will love what Essengue <a href="https://x.com/CHSN_Bulls/status/1938058777275568484" rel="noopener">had to say</a> about Bulls legend Joakim Noah.</p><p>Noa Essengue spoke to the media after being drafted by the Bulls, and he was asked if he knew Joakim Noah:</p><p>“Yeah, for sure,” Essengue said, according to a video from Bulls on CHSN. “That’s my guy.”</p><p>Someone from Essengue’s agency knows Noah, and that is how the French star became familiar with him. Noah will always be a fan-favorite in Chicago.</p><p>Bulls fans will like that Essengue is familiar with Noah’s game, but Essengue’s game is what’s most important. This fan base is desperate to see some success, and they are hoping that Essengue is one of the young pieces that can help make it happen. Essengue is confident in his game, but he also knows that he has a lot to improve.</p><p>“I think I’m going to bring energy on defense and offense,” Essengue said. “I’m going to bring everything that I got. Offensively, I’m going to improve myself. I’m going to do all of the little details.”</p><p>The concerns around Noa Essengue fall around his offensive skillset. He has great size and athleticism, but he isn’t a great shooter. That is something that he will need to work on, but he does make up for it in other areas.</p><p>“I think I can do pretty much everything, all of the details, like shooting, passing the ball, attack the rim,” he said of his offensive skillset. “I think my biggest thing right now is the open court game.”</p><p>At the end of the day, only time will tell if this pick will work out for the Bulls. Essengue has a lot of potential, but it will ultimately come down to how a good of a job the coaching staff does with their development.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/chicago-bulls/bulls-rumors-insider-reveals-chicago-nba-draft-plan">The Bulls aren’t done drafting</a> as they are also in possession of the 15th pick in the second round, which is the 45th overall pick. Day two of the 2025 NBA Draft will get underway on Thursday at 8 ET from the Barclays Center in New York.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Noa Essengue’s Joakim Noah take will immediately endear him to Bulls fans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/ncaa-basketball/florida-basketball-news-joakim-noah-watched-gators-title-5-a-m-casablanca');   ga('set', 'title', 'Joakim Noah watched Florida basketball win title at 5 a.m. in Casablanca');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Florida-basketball-guard-Walter-Clayton-Jr.-1-cuts-the-net-after-defeating-the-Houston-Cougars.jpg"><figcaption>Scott Wachter-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Joakim Noah watched Florida basketball win title at 5 a.m. in Casablanca</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-08T07:16:50-07:00">April 8th, 7:16am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-08T07:16:50-07:00">April 8th, 7:16am</time><address><a>Rexwell Villas</a>Rexwell Villas is an experienced sports writer covering a variety of sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football. He's a Communications Arts graduate from the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and he claims to have JR Smith's conscience with his shot selection. He has won a basketball, a baseball, and a football championship in fantasy all within a year.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NCAA Basketball</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The right to be called kings of the college basketball world belongs to the Florida Gators again after a very long time. Before Monday, the last time <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-basketball/florida-basketball-news-todd-golden-makes-national-championship-history">Florida basketball won the title</a> was during the mid-2000s when Joakim Noah and the Billy Donovan-coached Gators won back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007.</p><p>Noah, however, was not able to be in person at the Alamodome to watch Walter Clayton Jr. and company play against Kelvin Sampson’s Houston Cougars in the finale of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. So where was Noah? Apparently, he was not even on the same continent as the Gators; he was in Morocco particularly in Casablanca, as shown in a video shared on X (formerly Twitter) by Marc J. Spears of ESPN.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Former Florida star <a href="https://twitter.com/JoakimNoah?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JoakimNoah</a> salutes his alma mater on their NCAA title that he watched in the early morning from Casablanca. <a href="https://twitter.com/GatorsMBK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GatorsMBK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/andscape?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@andscape</a> <a href="https://t.co/6yfVZISgfV">pic.twitter.com/6yfVZISgfV</a></p><p>— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarcJSpears/status/1909597905914364066?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 8, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>In the video, the 40-year-old Noah revealed that he was “wearing a Gators jersey” for the remainder of his trip in the North African nation, but it wasn’t one of his during his time with Florida basketball.</p><p>Instead, Noah showed a No. 4 jersey of his former Gators teammate Adrian Moss, who was among Noah’s teammates in Florida’s <a href="https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/florida/men/" rel="noopener">national title run in the 2005-06 campaign</a>. Moss left after that season but Noah and the Gators were the last team standing again in the 2007 edition of the Big Dance.</p><p>Noah played three seasons with the Gators and won two national titles before being selected by the Chicago Bulls ninth overall in the first round of the 2009 NBA draft.</p><p>Florida basketball’s 65-63 victory over the Cougars will be talked about for years to come. The Gators were down by as many as a dozen points in the second half but willed their way into overcoming that deficit on their way to bagging the national crown. They also beat the like of the UConn Huskies, Maryland Terrapins and Auburn Tigers on their way to the national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio.</p><p>Will Richard paced the Gators in the Houston game with 18 points with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals while Walter Clayton Jr. was given the Final Four Most Outstanding Player award <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-basketball/florida-basketball-news-walter-clayton-jr-no-brainer-nba-draft-declaration">after averaging 22.3 points</a> while shooting 43.5 percent from behind the arc in six games in the tournament.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Joakim Noah watched Florida basketball win title at 5 a.m. in Casablanca

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bulls-news-joakim-noahs-powerful-message-leaves-derrick-rose-tearing-up');   ga('set', 'title', 'Joakim Noah’s powerful Bulls message leaves Derrick Rose tearing up');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/0Joakim-Noahs-powerful-message-leaves-Derrick-Rose-tearing-up0.jpg"></figure><h1>Joakim Noah’s powerful Bulls message leaves Derrick Rose tearing up</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-01-05T09:17:43-08:00">January 5th, 9:17am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-01-05T09:17:43-08:00">January 5th, 9:17am</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bulls-news-chicago-to-honor-derrick-rose-with-jersey-retirement">announcement of the Chicago Bulls retiring Derrick Rose’s jersey</a> next year, the team celebrated the career of the star on Saturday night when they took on the New York Knicks. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-derrick-rose-officially-retires-after-16-seasons">Rose retired last year</a> which sparked the talk of the Bulls possibly building a statue along with hanging his jersey in the rafters as during the celebration, former teammate Joakim Noah had an impassioned speech.</p><p>During Noah’s speech, Rose would visibly tear up as his close friend honed in on how much he has meant to the city of Chicago by not just calling him the “MVP,” but the<a href="https://x.com/NBATV/status/1875741221378814063" rel="noopener"> “people’s champ.”</a></p><p>“Pooh, this story is not just about your success,” Noah said. “It’s about hope, it’s about overcoming adversity. Every time you step inside the [United Center] fans are going to chant MVP.”</p><p>“You’re an MVP, you’re the youngest MVP in league history, you’re the MVP of Chicago,” Noah continued. “Being the MVP carries a lot of responsibility. The way you handled yourself through all of that, that’s what I’m inspired about. You always put the city on your back and you carried that with you. You’re not only the MVP, you’re the people’s champ.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">“You’re not only the MVP, Pooh, you’re the people’s champ!” ❤️</p><p>Joakim Noah shares a special moment with Derrick Rose on his celebration night 🌹 <a href="https://t.co/tJzmdQTcbq">pic.twitter.com/tJzmdQTcbq</a></p><p>— NBA TV (@NBATV) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1875741221378814063?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Derrick Rose inspires “hope” to Joakim Noah</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Derrick-Rose-on-Jan.-4-2025-1.jpg"><figcaption>David Banks-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Subsequently, as others would <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bulls-news-zach-lavine-honors-derrick-rose-knicks-game">honor Rose like Bulls star Zach LaVine</a> and former head coach Tom Thibodeau, Noah had an impactful speech dedicated to his friend. He would tell a story about a tattoo that Rose had and how it represented how important <a href="https://www.nba.com/bulls/news/mvp-of-chicago-d-rose-receives-outpouring-of-love-on-derrick-rose-night" rel="noopener">“hope”</a> was and remembering always where he came from according to the league’s website.</p><p>“I remember being on the (team) plane with Pooh and he had a tattoo and I said, ‘Pooh that tattoo is terrible, you going to change that?’ You said that tattoo is to remember where I came from,” Noah said. “Hope is a powerful emotion. You give people that every single day, you gave your teammates hope because we knew we had the best player on the court every single night, you gave the fans hope because they knew they were watching the most exciting player every single night.”</p><p>“You gave your city hope,” Noah continued. “I saw it yesterday at Simeon (Career Academy exhibition), how proud they are of you. I salute you Pooh and everything you stand for. To see you come out of this journey at peace is what I’m most proud of. That’s why they are putting that No. 1 in the rafters. I love you and it was a pleasure lacing ‘em up with you.”</p><h2><b>Derrick Rose’s Bulls career was filled with “what ifs”</b></h2><p>Rose’s story is one to be remembered forever by Bulls fans as he is from the city, played high school basketball here, and was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick by his hometown team. He would be the youngest MVP ever in 2011 but the exciting guard would have an immense amount of injuries.</p><p>Though <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bulls-news-derrick-rose-makes-eye-opening-revelation-about-huge-career-what-if">Rose responded in grace about the “what if scenarios,”</a> he’s grateful for what he’s done in his career as it’ll be highlighted by his jersey in the rafters of the United Center.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Joakim Noah’s powerful Bulls message leaves Derrick Rose tearing up

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bulls-news-derrick-rose-joakim-noah-get-brutally-honest-epic-2009-celtics-playoff-series');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bulls legends Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah get brutally honest on epic 2009 Celtics playoff series');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bulls-news-Derrick-Rose-Joakim-Noah-get-brutally-honest-on-epic-2009-Celtics-playoff-series.jpg"></figure><h1>Bulls legends Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah get brutally honest on epic 2009 Celtics playoff series</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-31T12:27:32-08:00">December 31st, 12:27pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-31T12:27:32-08:00">December 31st, 12:27pm</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Chicago Bulls had Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah come in to reminisce about some of the defining moments of their career, and the two looked back on Noah’s dunk over Paul Pierce in Game 6 of their first-ever playoff series against the Boston Celtics in 2009. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/best-derrick-rose-bulls-moments">Rose was reflecting</a> on the series as a whole initially, before the dunk <a href="https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1873844007291277651" rel="noopener">came up on a video</a> that was being shown to them.</p><p>“I remember talking to my agent at the time and him telling me to go out and try to play Game 1 as if it was a regular game,” Derrick Rose said. “Now looking back at it, it’s like bro how? I don’t know how I was able to like be so poised while I was playing. And like during big moments especially late in the game. I realize why Paul Pierce be hating because he missed that free throw.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">D-Rose remembers his iconic rookie playoff debut against Boston in 2009 🌹 <a href="https://t.co/SLgvgtsLlw">pic.twitter.com/SLgvgtsLlw</a></p><p>— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) <a href="https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/1873844007291277651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The dunk from Noah came with around 35 seconds left in triple overtime, and it gave the Bulls a 125-123 lead. He was fouled on the play, meaning Pierce would leave the game. Noah laughed about Pierce’s dejected reaction to the play, which was shown on the video.</p><p>“Look at the hate!” Joakim Noah said when a dejected Paul Pierce was shown. “Oh man! That’s my favorite part right there, you saw that hate?”</p><p>Rose went on to say that this moment was a jumping-off point for his, Noah’s, and everyone else’s careers on that team. Then he went on to praise Noah’s ability to make that play at that moment.</p><p>“And there’s no hate though,” Rose said. “I’m just saying he birthed, him missing that free throw kind of birthed all of our careers. Ain’t too many fives getting that steal and being able to have enough puppy power in the puppies to get down the court. So that was a big play in the game, and me running late up the court like I was like, you see, I’m a fan. I’m watching the play like, ‘Oh, s***.” So to see my guy do that, have a big moment like that to change the game, it was a beautiful moment.”</p><p>The Celtics went on to win the series in Game 7, but it was a valuable experience for the young Bulls team, as they would continue to be contenders in the Eastern Conference in the following years.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Bulls legends Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah get brutally honest on epic 2009 Celtics playoff series

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nuggets-news-joakim-noah-dishes-on-underrated-aspect-nikola-jokic-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'Joakim Noah dishes on surprisingly underrated aspect of Nikola Jokic’s game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Joakim-Noah-dishes-on-surprisingly-underrated-aspect-of-Nikola-Jokics-game.jpg"></figure><h1>Joakim Noah dishes on surprisingly underrated aspect of Nikola Jokic’s game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-26T13:40:48-08:00">November 26th, 1:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-26T13:40:48-08:00">November 26th, 1:40pm</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the glitz and glamour that comes with Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic’s game, former NBA all-star Joakim Noah sees that as well. However, he believes that there’s an element to Jokic’s game that is severely underlooked. On the Young Man &amp; The Three Podcast, Noah shared <a href="https://youtu.be/5Dj5VvffqUI?t=467" rel="noopener">what makes the Denver big man as dominant</a> as he is.</p><p>“The altitude there is so real, you can think that you’re in great shape, you go to Denver it’s a whole other thing,” Noah said. “So he is training in that every day. By the time he gets to sea level, he has a third lung.<br><br>“I hated playing in Denver, thank God I had to only go there once a year. Playing in Denver, I could barely sleep, that’s how annoying the altitude was for me.”</p><p>Denver is nicknamed “The Mile High City” for <a href="https://nugglove.com/posts/every-nba-arena-ranked-altitude-above-sea-level-ahead-nuggets-jazz-showdown" rel="noopener">its 5,280 feet elevation</a>. While the Utah Jazz play at 4,265 feet in elevation, that extra 1,000+ feet makes a difference. Not to mention, if Jokic travels to somewhere like Los Angeles, his endurance is way better. Playing at 5,280 feet all season long conditions the body to thrive off of less oxygen. It forces your muscles to work more and enter cellular respiration.</p><h2><b>Joakim Noah understands the correlation between altitude and Nikola Jokic’s success with the Nuggets</b></h2><p>Again, the elevation makes a huge difference. Also, Jokic is third in the NBA in minutes per game (37.6) and has only missed three games on the year thus far. With an increase in minutes and productivity, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-michael-malone-mvp-voters-nikola-jokic-massive-performance">Nuggets big man knows when to turn it up</a>, especially in the fourth quarter. Noah explained how the correlation of playing in the altitude gives him leverage over his opponents.</p><p>“The altitude is real and Joker knows it,” Noah said. “That’s why it’s the fourth quarter, he runs the floor hard because he knows that’s called the game within the game, that’s winning basketball. Running the floor doesn’t show up on a stat sheet but when I saw another big man exhausted, I knew I had another gear. You have to win that fourth quarter and I think Joker does a good job of that.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-mvp-mondays-24-25-nikola-jokic-overtakes-jayson-tatum-anthony-davis">Jokic has played at an MVP level</a> and could win his third trophy within four years. He leads the league in rebounding and is second in assists as a center. Not to mention, Denver has improved drastically since the preseason and has found their rhythm. As long as Jokic remains in Denver, the altitude will play in his favor every single time.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Joakim Noah dishes on surprisingly underrated aspect of Nikola Jokic’s game

Serge Ibaka

Rajon Rondo

Rudy Gobert

Harrison Barnes

Joakim Noah

LaMarcus Aldridge

Danilo Gallinari

Vince Carter

Marco Belinelli

Al Horford

2x All Star

2013-14 All-NBA

3x All-Defensive

2013-14 Def. POY

Chicago Bulls

New York Knicks

Memphis Grizzlies

Los Angeles Clippers

Career

1 season

2 seasons

7 seasons

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Shoutout to @twcflorida for the delivery of my water machine that takes HUMIDITY from the AIR and purifies it to DRINKING WATER! Thanks for the delivery! Stay Tuned. Shoutout my brother @hollywoodab3. Looking forward to doing projects together. 

2019-20 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
2.8	3.2	1.4	0.2	0.2

2019-20 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
2.8	3.2	1.4	0.2	0.2

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