Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Bulls' dominant early 2010s era featured a unique defensive style and a cast of legendary players, including Joakim Noah known for his relentless energy.
- Noah spoke with FanSided, sharing vivid memories of defending Obama in a high-stakes pickup game alongside some of the NBA's biggest names.
- His reflections also highlight the explosive prime of Derrick Rose and the lasting impact of their shared championship pursuits.
Competition isn't always pretty. That certainly applies to the rough, physical defense that powered the Chicago Bulls in the early 2010s. It also fits the jumpshot of Joakim Noah, Chicago's primary starting center for a nine-year stretch from 2007 to 2016.
Noah began his NBA career as a two-time National Champion at Florida and made an immediate impact with his defensive intensity, his sharp passing and his relentless energy. And also his strange jumpshot form — launched from in front of his face, almost two-handed with a sharp wrist flick. It wasn't beautiful but it was effective and, according to Noah, it meant a little more when it went in.
"The thing with having an ugly jumpshot is that when you make it ... it's demoralizing for the other team for sure.," Noah told FanSided's Sean Daley, courtesy of AT&T.
Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose ushered in a new golden era of Bulls basketball
Noah was no Steph Curry but he was one of the most impactful big men of his generation. He averaged 9.3 points, 9.4 rebounds. 3.0 assists and 1.4 blocks per game across his nine seasons in Chicago, winning Defensive Player of the Year and finishing fourth in MVP voting in 2013-14. He was the perfect partner for Derrick Rose, who did win MVP in 2011.
Rose and Noah led the Bulls to the best record in the Eastern Conference twice during this era but saw their championship dreams dashed by repeated injuries to Rose. Those injuries eventually robbed him of much of the physical advantages that made him so special but Noah wants to make sure the next generation remembers just what Rose was in his prime.
"Derrick had abilities that nobody else had on the basketball court," Noah said. "Like we had never seen that kind of explosive power with the skill that he had. And being from Chicago, the energy that he brought every single time he stepped onto the court."
His time in Chicago saw Noah cross paths with several basketball legends, including Tom Thibodeau and a young Jimmy Butler, both of whom he discussed with Daley in the video above. But he also shared the court with maybe the biggest Chicago legend of them all — President Barack Obama — and admitted to picking him full-court in a pick-up game with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Pau Gasol and others.
"I remember the President coming up to me and being like, 'why do you have that ugly...', I mean he was talking s**t! In front of everybody! And I didn't know where to put myself. I was like, okay, he's getting a little too comfortable out here. It was his birthday but I thought it was a good idea to just pick him up full court, so he could feel my wrath a little bit."
Noah is teaming up with AT&T for their “Dunk Bus,” a mobile, interactive basketball activation traveling to cities across the country, which will make a stop in Chicago. Fans will meet NBA players, win exclusive prizes, dunk on the motorized robotic hoop, and compete in NBA 2K
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