Joakim Noah is a Chicago Bulls franchise legend and he received a hero’s welcome in his return to Chicago on Thursday.
Earlier in the day, Noah was named a franchise ambassador by the Bulls with the team announcing plans to honor him at tonight’s game. With former teammates with Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, Carlos Boozer, and Brad Miller with him in the stands, the Bulls took a moment to honor Noah in-game in front of the United Center crowd.
The Bulls and Knicks honor Joakim Noah at the United Center
pic.twitter.com/rG3l2ldVhI
— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 29, 2021
Ben Gordon, @MisterCBooz and @LuolDeng9 in the building to honor newly named @chicagobulls ambassador and their former teammate, @JoakimNoah! pic.twitter.com/kYtA9UTjZI
— NBA (@NBA) October 29, 2021
As the video shows, Rose took a moment to gesture towards Noah, as did Gibson. Thibodeau, meanwhile, looked very much like Thibodeau in seemingly not being aware of what was going on.
https://twitter.com/cwmwrites/status/145389263525770854
The Bulls also created a tribute video for Noah, featuring comments from Rose, Thibodeau, Kirk Hinrich and others that aired in arena.
One of the greatest Bulls ever.
Happy @JoakimNoah Night! pic.twitter.com/CtZRzhqLST— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) October 29, 2021
Perhaps the coolest part about this, though, is that it came on a night where the Bulls were hosting a Knicks team that is coached by Tom Thibodeau (Noah’s coach in Chicago when he was at his apex) and features former teammates in Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson. Noah also played for the Knicks, spending two years in New York before finishing out his career with stints with the Grizzlies and Clippers.