New York Knicks: Yannick Noah Excited For Joakim Noah

Tennis legend Yannick Noah believes his son, Joakim Noah, has found the perfect team to play for in the New York Knicks. Read his comments below.

The New York Knicks have found the ultimate competitor in recently signed center Joakim Noah. Whether people love or hate the way Noah approaches the game, he gives everything he has on every possession.

Noah’s father, tennis legend Yannick Noah, believes that his son has found the perfect team to play for.

The younger Noah spent the first nine years of his NBA career as the heart and soul of the Chicago Bulls. After that marriage unceremoniously ended in 2016, Noah knew exactly where he wanted to be.

According to George Willis of The New York Post, the elder Noah is excited for his son to be playing in New York City.

“It means the world to him,” the elder Noah said of Joakim joining the Knicks. “We used to go to the Garden when he was a kid, watching games, watching Patrick [Ewing] play. To know that he’s going to play in the Garden, we feel so blessed. He’s preparing hard. He has a lot of hope and he can’t wait. And I’ll be there.”

Generally speaking, Knicks fans feel just as blessed to have Noah on the team.

Noah, 31, is looking for redemption with the Knicks. Phil Jackson provided him with that opportunity by signing him to a four-year contract worth roughly $72.6 million.

Some have responded negatively to the length of the contract, but everyone seems to be aware of what he offers the Knicks.

Noah won the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year award. He was also named to the All-NBA First Team in 2013-14, and has two All-Star Game appearances, three All-Defensive Team nods, and seven triple-doubles to his name.

Yannick Noah, who gave his son, “All of [Jackson’s] books,” knows just how ecstatic his son is to be playing for The Zen Master.

“It’s a great team,” Yannick Noah told The Post. “If they find the chemistry, I think it’s a great team. I think he’s very happy to have his friend [Rose] here and a lot of great players. He feels very privileged and very honored to play for Phil Jackson, too. I used to give him all of Phil’s books. He read all the books.”

Life is coming full circle for Noah.

Noah has always approached life in a similar way to Jackson and basketball in a similar manner to the Knicks teams of the 1990s. He subscribes to many of The Zen Master’s acquired philosophies on life, and never says die on the court.

Cut from the same cloth as the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons, Pat Riley led Knicks, and Jeff Van Gundy underdog Knicks, Noah is ready to be an animal for this city.

Noah’s father is just as excited as Knicks fans for his son to be playing in New York.