Joakim Noah

No. 13 – Chicago Bulls
Center
Personal information
Born	(1985-02-25) February 25, 1985 (age 27) New York City, New York, U.S.
High school	United Nations International School Poly Prep Country Day School The Lawrenceville School
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
College	Florida (2004–2007)
NBA Draft	2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th overall
Selected by the Chicago Bulls
Pro career	2007–present
Career history
2007–present	Chicago Bulls
Career highlights and awards
2× NCAA Championship (2006, 2007) NCAA Final Four MOP (2006) Second-team All-American (2007) NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2011)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men's basketball Competitor for  France FIBA European Championship Silver 2011 Lithuania Team

Joakim Simon Noah^[1] ( /ˈdʒoʊ.ə.kɪm/ JOH-ə-kim;^[2] born February 25, 1985) is a professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born in New York City to a Swedish mother and French father, he holds American, Swedish and French citizenship.^[3][4] He played college basketball for the University of Florida, and was a key member of the Florida Gators' starting five that won two consecutive NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournaments in 2006 and 2007. In 2007, the Chicago Bulls selected Noah in the first round (ninth pick overall) in the 2007 NBA Draft.

Early life[link]

Noah was born in New York City in 1985 to French singer and former professional tennis player Yannick Noah, and Cécilia Rodhe, Miss Sweden 1978. His paternal grandfather Zacharie Noah was a Cameroonian professional soccer player, winner of the Coupe de France in 1961.^[5] Noah lived in Paris, France from 1988 to 1998 and returned to New York City at age 13.^[6][7]

He competed on basketball teams at several high schools: the United Nations International School, Poly Prep, and The Lawrenceville School.^[8]

College career[link]

Noah during Midnight Madness with Sha Brooks during a 3-point shootout (October 13, 2006)

During his freshman year at Florida (2004–2005), he played sparingly, clocking in just 10.3 minutes per game, and averaged only 3.9 points and 2.7 rebounds per contest.

Noah made significant improvements during his sophomore year (2005–2006), leading his team in points (14.2 ppg) and blocks (2.4 bpg), while ranking second in rebounds (7.1 rpg) behind teammate Al Horford (7.6 rpg). Almost unknown at the beginning of the season, Noah's draft stock improved continually. By the end of the NCAA tournament he was considered by many to be the top college prospect in the country, and had he declared for the 2006 NBA Draft he very likely would have been taken first or second. However, Noah, along with teammates Al Horford and Corey Brewer announced at their national championship celebration that they would return for their junior seasons.^[1] Noah and the Gators would go on to repeat as champions.

2006 NCAA Tournament[link]

Noah was named the Most Outstanding Player (MOP)^[9] of the NCAA Tournament's Minneapolis Regional after leading the Gators over top-seeded Villanova in the final game with 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 blocks. On April 3, 2006, Noah led the Gators to a 73–57 win over UCLA for the school's first NCAA Basketball Championship, and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. In the finale, he posted 16 points, 9 rebounds, and a championship game record 6 blocks.^[9]

Professional career[link]

Early career[link]

The Chicago Bulls selected Noah as the ninth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. Noah and his teammates at Florida, Corey Brewer and Al Horford, became the highest picked trio from the same college in the history of the NBA. Horford was chosen third overall by the Atlanta Hawks, and Brewer was chosen seventh overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. On November 6, 2007, Noah made his regular season debut off the bench after missing the first three games with a sprained ankle. He posted 2 points and 4 rebounds. Noah averaged 6.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game during the 2008–09 regular season.

Noah blocking a shot against the Washington Wizards.

Noah played a key role in game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference first round playoff series between the Bulls and the Boston Celtics. In the final minute of the game's third overtime period, with the score tied at 123–123, he stole the ball from Paul Pierce and dribbled down the court (unusual for a center) for a dunk, drawing Pierce's sixth foul in the process. The Bulls went on to win the game 128–127,^[10] though they would lose the series in Game 7.

2009–10 season[link]

During the 2009–10 season, Noah averaged 10.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game. He only played 64 games due to injury, though. The Bulls once again made the playoffs securing the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, Noah averaged 14.8 points per game and 13.0 rebounds, but the Bulls lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round in five games.

2010–11 season[link]

On October 4, 2010, Noah signed a five-year, $60 million contract extension with the Bulls.^[11] On December 15, 2010, the Bulls announced that due to ligament damage in Noah's hand, he would have surgery and miss 8 to 10 weeks. Noah was averaging 14 points and 11.7 rebounds in the 24 games prior to his injury. He returned to action in the 55th game of the season on February 23 after recuperating from right thumb surgery. He scored 7 points and had 16 rebounds in just over 24 minutes.^[12] He returned to the inactive list for games 74, 75 and 76.

2011–12 season[link]

On February 22, 2012, Noah recorded his first career triple-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the first triple-double by a Bulls center since Artis Gilmore recorded one in 1977.^[13]

International play[link]

Noah plays for the French national basketball team, although he also could have been eligible for the American or Swedish team.^[14] "The French National team is definitely something that has been in my dreams for a while," he said.^[15] He was officially made a French citizen on April 11, 2007.^[14] Noah speaks fluent French.^[16]

Noah made his first appearance for the French national basketball team on August 9, 2011 in the friendly match against Spain where he scored 6 points with 3 rebounds.

Noah then joined the French team at EuroBasket 2011.

Player profile[link]

Noah is known for his high energy play especially on the defensive end. He is a tenacious rebounder on both ends of the floor and is a capable ball-handler and passer at the center position. His unorthodox shooting style has been the subject of much criticism. However, Noah has improved his free throw shooting and is an effective finisher close to the basket.

Personal life[link]

On May 25, 2008, Noah was arrested for having an open container of alcohol and misdemeanor possession of marijuana in Gainesville, Florida. A few hours later, Noah was also cited for driving with a suspended license and not wearing a seat belt. He was sentenced to six months probation, a $200 fine for the marijuana and open container charges, and a $206 traffic fine.^[17]

Noah divides his time between Chicago and Florida during the off-season.

With his mother, Noah runs the Noah's Arc Foundation.^[18]

Awards[link]

NCAA[link]

• 2006 Associated Press (AP) All-SEC First Team^[19]
• Named an Honorable Mention All-American by AP.
• Most Outstanding Player in the 2006 Final Four^[20]
• NCAA Men's Division 1 basketball champion – 2006,2007

NBA[link]

• 2011 NBA All-Defensive Second Team

Sponsorship[link]

Joakim Noah is sponsored by Le Coq Sportif and currently wears their basketball shoes. Noah is also sponsored by the BSN supplement brand.

NBA career statistics[link]

Regular season[link]

Playoffs[link]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	College basketball portal

• 2005–06 Florida Gators men's basketball team
• 2006–07 Florida Gators men's basketball team
• Florida Gators
• List of Florida Gators basketball players

References[link]

External links[link]

• Joakim Noah at NBA.com
• Official website
• Joakim Noah's channel on YouTube
• Joakim Noah on Facebook
• DraftExpress profile
• Florida Gators bio

Noah
Noah's sacrifice by Daniel Maclise
Antediluvian Patriarch, Prophet, Holy Forefather, Constructor of the Ark, 'Grateful Servant of God', 'Preacher of Righteousness'
Born	Mesopotamia (?)
Honored in	Judaism Christianity Islam Mandaeism Baha'i Faith
Influenced	Many Jews, Christians and Muslims

Noah ( /ˈnoʊ.ə/^[1]; or Noé, Noach; Hebrew: נֹחַ,‎ נוֹחַ, Modern Noaẖ Tiberian Nōăḥ; Arabic: نُوح‎ Nūḥ; Ancient Greek: Νῶε) was the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The story of Noah and the ark is told in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, which is followed by the story of the Curse of Ham. Outside Genesis his name is mentioned in Ezekiel, Isaiah and Chronicles. He was the subject of much elaboration in later Abrahamic traditions, including the Qur'an.

Noah in Genesis[link]

Mosaic depiction of Noah sending the dove

Noah was the tenth of the pre-Flood Patriarchs. His father Lamech named him nûaḥ (the final ḥ is a more gutteral sound than the English h), saying, "This same shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh from the ground which the LORD hath cursed."^[2] This connects the future patriarch's name with nāḥam, "comfort", but it seems better related to the word nûaḥ, meaning "rest", and is more a play on words than a true etymology.^[3][4]

In his five hundredth year Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. In his six hundredth year God, saddened at the wickedness of mankind, sent a great deluge to destroy all life, but because Noah was "righteous in his generation" God instructed him to build an ark and save a remnant of life. After the Flood Noah offered a sacrifice (the word nihoah, describing the "pleasant" odour of the sacrifice, is yet another pun on Noah's name) and entered into a covenant with God regulating the shedding of blood (i.e., mankind's permnission to kill under regulated circumstances).^[5] After this he became "the first tiller of the soil", planted a vineyard, and drank the wine, and fell asleep naked; Noah's son Ham saw his father naked and told his brothers, and Noah cursed Ham's son Canaan.^[6]

Noah died 350 years after the Flood, at the age of 950,^[7] the last of the immensely long-lived antediluvian Patriarchs. One of the longest human lifespans, as depicted by the Bible, diminishes rapidly thereafter, from almost 1,000 years to the 120 years of Moses. (The longest recorded lifespan was that of Methuselah, who lived to be 969 years old. – Gen. 5:27)

Origins[link]

According to the documentary hypothesis, the first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch/Torah), including Genesis, were collated during the 5th century BC from four main sources, which themselves date from no earlier than the 10th century BC. Two of these, the Jahwist, composed in the 10th century BC, and the Priestly source, from the late 7th century BC, make up the chapters of Genesis which concern Noah. The attempt by the 5th century editor to accommodate two independent and sometimes conflicting sources accounts for the confusion over such matters as how many pairs of animals Noah took, and how long the flood lasted.^[8][9]

Noah is described by three phrases: “a righteous man”, “blameless” and “walked with God”. He stands out from his contemporaries as a man of right conduct.^[10] who forewarned doom, by preaching.

In terms of Julius Wellhausen's critiquing, the story of Noah is categorized as an ethnological tradition that emerges from the conflict between Israel and Canaan. The passage “Canaan will serve Shem” reflects Israel’s conquest of the promised land.^[11]

According to Randall Bailey, the curse against Canaan was as a direct result of Ham performing a suspicious sexual act against his father, Noah. He suggests that the purpose for this redaction was to keep Israel from adopting sexual practices linked with Egypt and Canaan (Lev 18:3) and to demean the ancestor of Africans because Israelite custom regarded Africa as a standard of valuation.^[12]

According to Umberto Cassuto, Ham’s transgression is an allegory that represents the Canaanite people. The Canaanites were to suffer the curse not because of Ham’s sin, but because they acted like him by their own transgressions. The passage of Canaan serving Shem refers to the children of Canaan who served under Chedorlaomer, king of Elam,^{[Gen 14:4]} son of Shem.^[13]

A vineyard mosaic

Noah and wine[link]

Commentators, as early as the Classical era, on Genesis 9:20–21 have excused Noah’s excessive drinking because he was considered to be the first wine drinker, the first person to discover the soothing, consoling, and enlivening effects of wine.^[14] John Chrysostom, a church father, writes that Noah’s behaviour is defensible: as the first human to taste wine, he would not know its aftereffects: “Through ignorance and inexperience of the proper amount to drink, fell into a drunken stupor”.^[15]

Philo, a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher also exonerates Noah by noting that one can drink in two different manners: (1) to drink wine in excess, a peculiar sin to the vicious evil man or (2) to partake of wine as the wise man, Noah being the latter.^[16]

In Jewish tradition, Rabbis blame Satan for saturating the vine with intoxicating properties from the blood of certain animals, thus Noah behaved not knowing what he was doing.^[17]

Noah and Ham[link]

In the field of Psychological biblical criticism, J. H. Ellens and W. G. Rollins address the narrative of Genesis 9:18–27 that narrates the unconventional behavior that occurs between Noah and Ham. Because of its brevity and textual inconsistencies, it has been suggested that this narrative is a “splinter from a more substantial tale”.^[18][19] A fuller account would explain what exactly Ham “had done to” his father; or why Noah directed a curse at Canaan for Ham’s misdeed; or how Noah came to know what occurred. The narrator relates two facts: (1) Noah became inebriated when he “uncovered himself within his tent” and (2) Ham “saw his father’s nakedness.” Thus, these passages revolve around sexuality and the exposure of genitalia as compared with other Hebrew bible texts, such as Habakkuk 2:15 and Lamentations 4:21.^[20]

Religious views[link]

Jewish views[link]

A Jewish depiction of Noah

The righteousness of Noah is the subject of much discussion among the rabbis.^[21] The description of Noah as "righteous in his generation" implied to some that his perfection was only relative: In his generation of wicked people, he could be considered righteous, but in the generation of a tzadik like Abraham, he would not be considered so righteous. They point out that Noah did not pray to God on behalf of those about to be destroyed, as Abraham prayed for the wicked of Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, Noah is never seen to speak; he simply listens to God and acts on his orders. This led such commentators to offer the figure of Noah as "the man in a fur coat," who ensured his own comfort while ignoring his neighbour. Others, such as the medieval commentator Rashi, held on the contrary that the building of the Ark was stretched over 120 years, deliberately in order to give sinners time to repent. Rashi interprets his father's statement of the naming of Noah (in Hebrew נֹחַ) “This one will comfort (in Hebrew– yeNaHamainu יְנַחֲמֵנו) from our work and our hands sore from the land that the Lord had cursed”,^[22] by saying Noah heralded a new era of prosperity, when there was easing (in Hebrew – nahah – נחה) from the curse from the time of Adam when the Earth produced thorns and thistles even where men sowed wheat and that Noah then introduced the plow.

Christian views[link]

An early Christian depiction showing Noah giving the gesture of orant as the dove returns

According to 2 Peter 2:5, Noah is considered a "preacher of righteousness". Of the Gospels in the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke compares Noah's Flood with the coming Day of Judgement: “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man.”^[23]

The First Epistle of Peter compares the saving power of baptism with the Ark saving those who were in it. In later Christian thought, the Ark came to be compared to the Church: salvation was to be found only within Christ and his Lordship, as in Noah's time it had been found only within the Ark. St Augustine of Hippo (354–430), demonstrated in The City of God that the dimensions of the Ark corresponded to the dimensions of the human body, which corresponds to the body of Christ; the equation of Ark and Church is still found in the Anglican rite of baptism, which asks God, "who of thy great mercy didst save Noah," to receive into the Church the infant about to be baptised.

In medieval Christianity, Noah's three sons were generally considered as the founders of the populations of the three known continents, Japheth/Europe, Shem/Asia, and Ham/Africa, although a rarer variation held that they represented the three classes of medieval society – the priests (Shem), the warriors (Japheth), and the peasants (Ham). In the 18th and 19th centuries the view that Ham's sons in general had been literally "blackened" by the curse of Noah was cited as justification for black slavery.^{[citation needed]}

In Latter-day Saint theology, the angel Gabriel lived in his mortal life as the patriarch Noah. Gabriel and Noah are regarded as the same individual; Noah being his mortal name and Gabriel being his heavenly name.^[24]

Islamic views[link]