In an appearance on “The Young Man & The Three,” former Bulls center Joakim Noah shared his state of disbelief over LeBron James. Noah, who has had various battles with LeBron on the court, says he struggles to accept that the King is still playing elite basketball after 21 years.
“To be dominant at 40 years old is pretty crazy,” said Noah. “It’s crazy. I can barely walk to the bathroom and this guy is still dominating. It speaks volumes on how seriously he takes it and you gotta give LeBron his flowers. It’s unbelievable.”
On the Lakers as a whole, Noah had a lot of good things to say and it seems he’s pretty optimistic about their standing in the West.
“When I think of the Lakers at the beginning of the year and people’s attitude toward them I think people really thought it was going to be a zoo and a sh*t show with the Bronny and LeBron situation,” said Noah. “But I think JJ Redick really set the tone in his first four games.”
Joakim Noah is a former NBA center who is best known for his work with Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, and the Chicago Bulls. Coming out of Florida, Noah was touted as an elite-level prospect for his high motor, favorable size, and interior dominance around the rim.
With the Bulls, Noah became a world-class defender and consistently set the tone on that end of the floor. In 2014, he even won the Defensive Player of the Year award for his efforts as the best rim protector in the game.
With the Bulls, Noah often encountered LeBron James and his top Eastern teams. Both with the Heat and with the Cavaliers, LeBron gave Joakim Noah (and the rest of the Bulls) some serious trouble and it often led to some intense showdowns on the court.
Of course, LeBron always came out on the winning end of those meetings and his greatness was largely considered the greatest obstacle for Noah’s Bulls teams.
In 2016, the star big man left the Chicago Bulls to sign with the New York Knicks but things were never the same and it wasn’t long before he retired from the game completely. Today, at 39, Noah is happy with his career and has no plans on ever coming back.
Meanwhile, for LeBron James, he’s in year 22 and still going strong. Even at nearly 40 years old, LeBron is one of the league’s best players this season with averages of 22.2 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.7 rebounds per game on 49.5% shooting.
As the first player in NBA history to share the court with his son, LeBron is already in unprecedented territory and he’s not done yet. With full health and enough skills to keep up with the best, James hasn’t lost a step out there and he’s continually finding new ways to dominate the game.
For someone like Joakim Noah, who battled LeBron in his prime, it can be hard to fathom how he’s still around today. What’s even crazier is trying to imagine how much longer LeBron James has left. If he’s made it this far, what’s stopping him from sticking around for his son, Bryce, to enter the fold? LeBron’s longevity makes almost anything possible and it has helped to cement his place as one of the greatest in the sport.
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