Former NBA star Joakim Noah created a firestorm for himself when he compared former teammate Derrick Rose’s torn ACL injury to the horrors of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
Noah, who played for the Chicago Bulls with Rose in the first decade of the new millennium, told the media during his official retirement that the level of personal trauma caused by Rose’s devastating injury was similar to what he experienced when the planes torpedoed into buildings in New York, Washington, D.C. and the fields of Pennsylvania.
“When I found out Derrick [Rose] tore his ACL, I remember the smells, who I was with, everything. I had the same feeling of when I saw the plane hit the tower [on Sept. 11th]. People will be like, ‘He’s crazy for saying that.’ No. I’m telling you how I felt.”
Noah made the shocking pronouncement during the media session prior to his official retirement from the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021.
The first-round draft pick of the Bulls in 2007, Noah played center for the franchise until the 2016 season when he was shipped to the New York Knicks. He also played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies before a rash of debilitating injuries forced him to shut it down for good after the 2020 season.
