Former All-Star and failed Knicks signing Joakim Noah is calling it a career.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Noah is retiring from basketball and is expected to retire as a Bull, where he spent the first nine years of his career before signing with the Knicks prior to the 2016-17 season.
Noah was part of the new additions brought to New York after Phil Jackson was made team president. Noah, 31 years old at the time, had been battling injury and made just two starts with Chicago the season before, averaging 4.3 points and 8.8 rebounds in 29 games. Many questioned the four-year, $72 million signing for an aging center with injury history and minimal offensive value, including Steve Mills, who worked under Jackson at the time before taking over as team president after Jackson’s departure.
Noah went on to play just 53 games with the Knicks over two seasons, averaging 4.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. He was waived by the team in 2018, and had stops in Memphis and eventually Los Angeles with the Clippers last season, playing in just five games.
The kicker for the Knicks? Noah carries a dead cap figure of $6.43 million this year, making him either the fourth-highest cap hit on the team behind Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, and Derrick Rose.
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