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Revenge Reason Joakim Noah is Excited to Return to Cleveland

By Paul Steeno

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On Thursday night in Milwaukee, the Chicago Bulls finally sunk the Milwaukee Bucks earning a second round match-up against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nobody on the roster is more excited about getting another crack at LeBron James in the playoffs than Bulls center Joakim Noah. Following the Bulls victory on Thursday, Noah was willing to put aside his hatred for the city of Cleveland in exchange for an opportunity to knock off the Cavaliers in the playoffs this season. 

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"“I never thought I’d say this,” he said recently. “But I’m very excited to go to Cleveland.”"

During Noah’s career, the Bulls have been eliminated from the playoffs three times by a LeBron-led team. In 2010, the eighth-seeded Bulls fell 4-1 in a first round series against the top-seeded Cavaliers. The same script unfolded the following season, as the Bulls lost 4-1 to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals despite dominating Game 1 at the United Center. In the 2013 playoffs, a short-handed Chicago Bulls team put up a valiant effort in their second round match-up against the Heat; however, once again, the Bulls fell 4-1.

Oct 20, 2014; Columbus, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) prepares to shoot over Cleveland Cavaliers forwards LeBron James (23) and

Kevin Love

(0) at Value City Arena. Cleveland won the game 107-98. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago Bulls have developed an intense rivalry with LeBron-led teams in part because of comments Noah made during his first ever playoff series in Cleveland.

Shortly after Noah made these comments about Cleveland, reporters asked James what he thought about Chicago.

LeBron’s unwillingness to take a stab back at Noah and Chicago hasn’t prevented the two players from developing an eventful history throughout their careers. In fact, the bad blood between the two players started before the center ever publicly uttered a negative word about Cleveland, Ohio.

On Dec. 5, 2009, Joakim Noah and Lebron James got into a war of words over….dancing?! 

In the 2012 playoffs, Noah and James got into another altercation.

In the Bulls final regular season game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Noah called James a “pussy.”

Despite the Bulls’ lack of success against the Cavaliers in the regular season this year (1-3), Noah told reporters after the final regular season game against the Cavaliers that he is hoping for a date with Cleveland in the playoffs.

"“I think we’re a confident group,” Noah said. “And it would be great to play them in the playoffs. It would be very, very exciting, something that I really hope happens.”"

In the past, James has always come out on top in his rivalry with the Bulls. Their center realizes that the 2014-2015 season is his team’s best opportunity to knock off the mighty LeBron and finally get the better part of the rivalry. The years of humiliation and heartbreaking defeats at the hands of James will instantly be erased if the Bulls can find a way to beat the Cavaliers this postseason. Noah recognizes this series as an opportunity to cement his team’s legacy in the lore of Chicago Bulls history. It is an opportunity to erase the past and finally earn some legitimate bragging rights against one of his most hated rivals.

That is why Joakim Noah is excited to go to Cleveland.

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