Fun name of the game for Noah

Win or lose, Bulls center Joakim Noah makes NBA basketball enjoyable.

Monday night it was lose as the Cavaliers beat the Bulls 112-102 in Game 2 of their opening-round NBA playoff series.

If the Bulls had prevailed, Noah would have been the star, or at least one of them. The Cavs did, so LeBron James was, as usual.

The Bulls were in this game most of the way but weren't ever going to win it. James wasn't going to let them any more than Michael Jordan would let the Cavs win back in the day.

But don't blame Noah for the Bulls being behind 0-2 as the best-of-seven series heads to Chicago for Games 3 and 4.

Noah was his customary bundle of energy in this one, running the court, mixing it up inside with Shaquille O'Neal, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

"Always," Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro said when asked whether teammates feed off Noah's play. "He has great energy. He continues to improve. He was effective from the tip tonight, and we need him to play at a high level."

Statistics don't define Noah. Fun does. The guy is just a lot of fun whether it's in basketball, in interviews or in real life.

"Joakim's a free spirit," Del Negro said.

Noah wasn't having much fun after this defeat. One of the things he doesn't find amusing is losing after winning most of his career, including two NCAA championships at Florida.

Most appealing about Noah is he doesn't mind being noticed. Some might say he doesn't mind showing off.

"You always know he's in a room," is the way teammate Derrick Rose puts it.

Remember, Noah wore a look-at-me outfit the night the Bulls drafted him into the NBA. His facial hair is funky. So is the bun tied behind his head.

On the court Noah flails his arms and on the bench he leads cheers. He clearly likes being the center of the offense, the center of the defense and the center of attention.

My goodness, who else calls out the city of Cleveland and Kevin Garnett during the same weekend, along with LeBron James during the same week?

Noah is like an innocent who sometimes talks without understanding the consequence and a jokester who sometimes talks with a little wink and a smile fully aware of the consequences.

It's almost like Noah is going to have fun regardless and invites you to have fun with him, even at his expense if that's what it takes.

All the recent targets - Clevelanders, Garnett and James - seemed to take Noah's comments somewhat personally but not necessarily seriously.

Come on, how can anybody be angry at Joakim Noah? How can anybody dislike somebody who is such a playful presence?

The crowd in Quicken Loans Arena booed Noah most of the game, but it sounded more obligatory than hateful.

"My whole life I've been booed," Noah said. "It's OK. I have my friends."

More and more people around the NBA are calling Joakim Noah their favorite player and it's more and more obvious why.

There's texture to his personality, a quality rare among professional athletes.

mimrem@dailyherald.com