The end of this long 2016-17 NBA campaign can’t come soon enough for the lowly New York Knicks who have faced self-created obstacle after obstacle this season. We’ve seen them produce flat performances on the hardwood all season and the off-court distractions haven’t helped any either.
The looming free agency of Derrick Rose and the seemingly unavoidable scenario of star forward Carmelo Anthony departing New York are both headlines that have garnered a ton of attention as we approach the offseason. The triangle offense President Phil Jackson seems so adamantly fixated on hasn’t worked the way he or head coach Jeff Hornacek have hoped but they plan to stay the course, resulting in a very cloudy future lying ahead for the Knicks.
Now with less than ten games remaining in the regular season, the Knicks still can’t find a way to stay out of the headlines as center Joakim Noah was recently suspended 20 games for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. On Tuesday, Noah issued a public apology for taking the supplements that ultimately led to his suspension. Following from Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press:
”This was a tough moment, but I’m going to learn from it,” Noah said. ”I tried to take a supplement to help me with everything I’ve gone through. I’ve gone through a lot of injuries, and I tried to take something to help me and it backfired.”
Noah returned to practice Tuesday following Feb. 27 surgery to remove a loose body from his left knee. The knee injury came after a hamstring injury he was trying to recover from around the All-Star break.
All told, he managed just 46 games in the first season of a four-year, $72 million contract he signed last summer.
”I wanted to do something to help myself, help my body and like I said it backfired on me,” Noah said. ”I tried to take the right measures when I was taking the supplements and it wasn’t enough.”
As stated, Noah was inked to a hefty 4 year, $72 million dollar contract last summer so it’s certainly fair for fans and others in the Knicks organization to be disappointed in his looming suspension. Even when he did take the floor this season, Noah wasn’t the factor he was expected to be from the starting center position. On the year, Noah has averages of 5.0 points per game to go along with 8.8 rebounds. With the Knicks on the verge of a full-blown rebuild, the Joakim Noah suspension was not what the franchise needed.
