Joakim Noah

And it was just back to the simple things of just enjoying playing basketball.

Absolutely.

That's deep.

Um, well, I had some a really bad shoulder injury before I signed my deal with the Knicks.

So I was actually, you know, on a hospital bed.

And, you know, after the surgery, you know, just doing a very, you know, the rehab was just, you know, rehab is very lonely.

You know, guys are out there on the court doing their thing and you're not being able to be out there and do your thing.

Yeah, that was definitely some of the lonelier times.

Mm hmm.

Um, you know, it's a, it's a very lonely time.

It was a dark time.

And, you know, I was, it's a time in my life where I probably had to do the most soul searching and find tools that could help me get through this.

I remember talking to, you know, sports therapists, things that were just

easy for me on the court very comfortable for me on the court were really difficult and you know I would talk to you know all the the teams would put me on with the with the therapist a sports therapist and you know talking to me and

I just, it didn't help at all.

I was just... They don't understand me.

They don't know what it's like to be me.

Well, they don't have to be on that court.

They're not 6'11", walk around New York City with a ponytail where everybody kind of sees you as the reason why your team is losing.

Yeah, it was very painful.