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The 5 best Chicago Bulls players since Michael Jordan

By Wes Goldberg

CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 02: Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany's Michael Jordan statue, officially known as 'The Spirit' sits outside the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls basketball team and Chicago Blackhawks hockey team in Chicago, Illinois on November 2, 2015. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
CHICAGO - NOVEMBER 02: Omri Amrany and Julie Rotblatt-Amrany's Michael Jordan statue, officially known as 'The Spirit' sits outside the United Center, home of the Chicago Bulls basketball team and Chicago Blackhawks hockey team in Chicago, Illinois on November 2, 2015. (Photo By Raymond Boyd/Getty Images) /
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3. Joakim Noah

You hear “heart and soul” a lot in regards to some of the more intense players. Draymond Green is the “heart and soul” of the Warriors. Isaiah Thomas is the “heart and soul” of the Celtics. Flea is the “heart and soul” of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

None of those guys were the heart and soul of their teams quite like Joakim Noah was during the Thibs-era Bulls.

Close your eyes and tell me what you see when you think of Joakim Noah.

Is it Noah screaming, mouth wide open, walking away from the basket in celebration of the opposing team taking a timeout after his offensive rebound launched a fastbreak? Is it basically this? That’s what I’m talking about.

I’m not saying Noah is the third greatest Bulls player since Jordan because he screams and yells. His numbers back it up. Noah is the all-time leading offensive rebounder in Bulls franchise history. His 2013-14 season is among the best since Jordan. He averaged 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds and an insane 5.4 assists (for a center!) and played in 80 games. He also won Defensive Player of the Year that season.

In the last decade, only Marc Gasol could do quite what Noah did, and even he didn’t come with the same level of intensity and “don’t-eff-with-me”-ness.

Noah was not only part of the best post-Jordan Bulls teams, he was the heart and soul. Derrick Rose was the leading scorer, Luol Deng the most versatile, Carlos Boozer the better frontcourt scorer. Chicago, however, isn’t as good without Noah in the middle, cleaning up misses and protecting the rim, finding teammates for open looks and keeping the intensity high in the face of a LeBron James dynasty.

Noah played nine seasons in Chicago before accepting a ridiculous contract offer from the Knicks that he would have been crazy to refuse, but he’ll one day retire as the pulse of the best Bulls teams since Jordan.

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