NBA seasons come and go, but one thing stays the same: Joakim Noah is an obscenity-spewing thorn in LeBron James’ side.
The two players — who have faced each other in more than a fair share of high-stakes NBA games — got involved in yet another round of verbal fisticuffs Sunday, when James’ Cavaliers edged Noah’s Bulls, 99-94.
After James was whistled for a travelling violation and was less-than-punctual in giving the ball to Noah, the Bulls’ center had choice words for James. And by choice words, we mean he chose to use a couple variants of “p—-.”
It wasn’t the first time Noah, who also hit James with a hard foul during the game, did his best to get under the King’s skin during a game.
In 2009, Noah trash-talked James from the bench while James was shooting free throws:
After James signed with Miami following the 2010 season, the Bulls and Heat squared off in the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals — a series Miami took in five games after dropping Game 1. After the series ended, Noah had a backhanded compliment lined up: “They’re Hollywood as hell, but they’re still very good.” In 2013, the Noah-led, severely shorthanded Bulls took a game — and an ounce of blood — off the Heat in the East semis.
The Cavaliers and Bulls currently hold the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the East, and are on pace to face little more than cannon fodder in the first round — the Nets and Bucks, respectively.
The possibility of another James-Noah encounter in the second round could be worth the price of admission.