Knicks big man Joakim Noah spoke out about his feelings of guilt regarding Phil Jackson‘s firing as team president, relays Marc Berman of The NY Post. Noah feels that his awful season in 2016/17 contributed to Jackson’s ouster.
“It’s tough, man, because I got a lot of love and respect for Phil,’’ Noah said. “He gave me an opportunity to play back home. Somebody I read all his books as a kid. I was just a big fan and still am. I have a lot of respect for him. It didn’t work out. That sucks. It’s something I have to live with. He believed in me, and I kind of let him down. That’s frustrating. He got a lot of blame that it was his fault. But we didn’t lose all those games because of Phil Jackson.’’
Noah also admitted that he lost his confidence last season and was not moving properly. He said that his drug suspension “hurt a lot of people” and that he has “to live with it the rest of his career.”
Jackson lavished Noah with a whopping four-year, $72 million contract last offseason, but Noah’s first season at Madison Square Garden proved to be a nightmare. Jackson was fired in late June. The NBA veteran is now ready to put last season’s struggles behind him and be a model mentor to the team’s big men.
Noah shouldn’t feel guilty, it’s not like he put a gun to Phil’s head and forced him into $72M. Sure, the drug suspension is bad form, but this is on Phil, not Jo.
Exactly. When someone offers you more than your value you take it
Joakim just seems wore out/broken. He had to carry those bulls teams while Rose was injured and now is in such a toxic environment in New York. Its sad really
The Knicks had a lot of issues last year with plenty of blame to pass around. First the Knicks did get off to a good start last season. The offense wasn’t the problem at first. Their first problem was their lack of a defensive plan. Practicing against an offense that only your team uses, SMH. Offense didn’t become a problem until mid December, when Jackson publicly stated that the Knicks weren’t running his offense and that things were going to change because of that. Then the Knicks started to lose. So Jacksons next move was to publicly shame Melo and well we know how that ended. My point being is that Jackson was fired because his ego lead him to, two fatal decisions: he tried to trade Porzingis and wanted to buy Melo out. That’s why Jackson was fired. No it wasn’t Noah’s horrible contract or his decline as a player. Noah however should be feeling more guilt towards his suspension because if anyone wanted to take Noah’s contract him being suspended at the start of the upcoming season.
Rare to see a player own his performance vs contract. He was compromised physically, but always played hard and wasn’t nearly as much of a negative on the court as people say. We were about .500 through the first half of the season before the injuries really caught up to him.
I more fault Jackson for constantly trying to sell low, and offering up any real assets to get rid of his (or any) contract. Based on what the Knicks do with cap space (e.g., THJ) is it really worth giving up anything to get rid of a bad contract at what may be its lowest point. We’re going nowhere the next couple of years, and he’s a great guy for younger bigs to learn from due to his BB IQ, selfless play and work ethic (unlike Melo on each count). A short season might do him and his value going forward some good.
As long as Dolan is the owner, nothing will
Change. I’ve been living the Knicks agony for
A long time. 1973 is a long time ago.
Just to make the playoffs would be great.
Oy vay
We need you to step up now, Noah
and contribute!