Joakim Noah is trading in his Bulls uniform to rep France in this summer's European Championships starting Aug. 31st

The wave of NBA players ditching the States to play basketball abroad is becoming a tsunami. The Bulls have already lost Brian Scalabrine to the Euro-Leagues and now their bow tied big man is going continent hoping as well.

Center Joakim Noah arrived in France on Monday to report to the French National team, who which he will be playing for during this summer’s European Championships in Lithuania.

Noah declined an offer to do this very thing last summer as he holds dual U.S and French citizenship.

Unlike the Derron Williams’ of the basketball world, Noah’s Euro play won’t interfere with that of his NBA play. The French National team opens up play on August 31st and the tournament runs through September 18th.

France opens play against Latvia.

Playing for France isn’t a spontaneous decision for Noah. According to him, playing for the French National team has been a sort of dream since his college days.

“The French National team is definitely something that has been in my dreams for a while. They used to talk to me a lot when (more…)