The NBA is a brotherhood to some extent. Even if the players compete against each other on the court, more often than not they hang out and are friends outside of the arena.
But, as it happens in every competition, there are always some guys who truly hate each other and it’s not just for the show.
That was the case with Joakim Noah and LeBron James, who starred in some epic battles throughout the years.
Noah was a never-ending source of energy and the defensive anchor of the Chicago Bulls, while LeBron James often spoiled their party when he was in his prime.
That’s why the former Defensive Player of the Year always circled those games when he had to meet LeBron, and admitted that they just had a special meeting:
“Every time we played, the Miami Heat, every time we played Cleveland, every team that LeBron was on, was always a war. Those are the games that you pencil it on the schedule. You put that circled,” Noah said on the ‘Knuckleheads’ Podcast with Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles, as quoted by Essentially Sports.
At some point, the Chicago Bulls looked poised to dethrone LeBron and rule the Eastern Conference but Derrick Rose’s injury and some tough luck took a toll on their chances.
Noah and James often went back-and-forth on the court. Joakim got into his face, talked trash, and was extra motivated to get a stop whenever he was assigned to check him.
That’s the kind of reaction the best players on the planet cause in fierce competitors such as Joakim Noah.
Their rivalry went that far that Noah even dissed the whole city of Cleveland, claiming that no one wanted to go there on vacation and winning the spite of a whole town.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpr_KaaRjW0
