Noah disappointed in inactive status with Knicks
Joakim Noah was looking forward to playing at the United Center for the second time as a visiting player. But Noah was inactive for Saturday's game and watched in street clothes from the bench.
Noah has played briefly in just two games this season and made one appearance with the G-League's Westchester Knicks. Last spring, Noah was suspended 20 games for testing positive for a banned supplement, a punishment that carried over into this season.
"I feel great. Just a little disappointed I'm not playing tonight, but it's the position I'm in right now with what happened last year," Noah said before the game. "Just working hard and just waiting for my time."
Injuries have taken their toll in recent years, but Noah isn't ready to give up on being a productive player. Just three years ago, Noah won defensive player of the year with the Bulls and finished fourth in MVP voting.
"This is the first time I've felt healthy in a long time," he said. "I've been working a lot to get back. I just know when my time comes, I'll be ready."
Noah said he would have liked to play Tuesday, even in garbage time, but the Knicks return to the UC on Dec. 27 so he'll get another chance. In the meantime, Noah and his charitable foundation haven't forgotten the nine seasons he spent with the Bulls.
"I think Chicago's always going to be a home to me," Noah said. "We started putting in work with the kids and we think that's something that's very important, me and my mother. The foundation is still here in Chicago. I'll try to be as active as possible and as invested as possible for the kids out here."
Slow to arrive:
After snapping their 10-game losing streak in Charlotte on Friday, bad weather forced the Bulls to spend the night in North Carolina.
The team said the pilot who was supposed to fly the charter was stuck in another city. The players were already on the plane when the flight was canceled.
"We had to find a way to get rooms, ended up getting back to the hotel a little bit after midnight," coach Fred Hoiberg said before Saturday's contest. "This morning, the same thing. There was a delay with our pilot. We ended up getting out of there finally at about 11:30 or so, got back just after 2. It's something that teams deal with in this league. Guess kind of like the old days (when teams flew commercial)."
Neighborhood rivals:
New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis, who is from Latvia, talked this week about Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen, a Finland native.
"He's having a great year so far," Porzingis said in the New York Daily News. "He can shoot it from outside. He's actually much more stronger than I was when I came into the league. I would say he's more NBA-ready than when I came in. I was actually surprised to see him perform at that level at the European Championships (over the summer). So at that moment, I saw him, I said I knew he'd be able to do that in the NBA also."