Joakim Noah is back! I don’t if he ever really “left”, because he didn’t actually miss a whole season, but it had certainly been a while since we saw him. He had played actual minutes as recently as January last year for the Knicks, and we’re not even out of 2018 yet, so it’s not even been a year. That’s not that long! Lots of players disappear for way longer before randomly returning. For example, P.J. Tucker. For another example, Kobe Bryant.
Not only is Noah back, but he is somehow contributing meaningfully to a winning team. I know, right? This guy, as you can see from the thumbnail, looks like a wizened centuries-old troll who emerged from the pages of European legendry into the real world and is very confused about it, but he can still ball. Kinda.
He still got a little bit of that “point-Noah” that we loved so much back when he was an All-Star. And he can still dunk. I’m not really sure about his defense, because I don’t care about defense, but I assume he still has a good idea of what to be doing on that end even if he can’t exactly do it anymore.
There’s something about coming back after being left for dead that really rehabilitates a players’ image in the eyes of fans. He was getting roasted endlessly by the time he departed about his whirlwind freethrows and gigantic contract. But now, now it seems like everyone is just happy to see him again.