Joakim Noah Injury: Updates on Bulls Star's Ankle and Return
Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah is one of the NBA's most versatile players when healthy. Thankfully for the Bulls, Noah's latest ankle injury is a minor one as he is already back on the court after first suffering the injury on Jan. 14.
Continue for updates.
Noah Remains Active vs. Heat
Sunday, Jan. 25
Noah will start today against the Heat today, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune announced. This will be Noah's second game back from his ankle injury as he first returned to the lineup on Friday against the Mavericks.
Noah Misses Multiple Games
Thursday, Jan. 22
According to ESPN's Nick Friedell, Noah will miss the Bulls' game on Thursday night against the Spurs:
Bleacher Report's Ethan J. Skolnick previously reported that Noah would miss the team's game against the Cavs on Jan. 19.
Noah underwent an MRI on Saturday, Jan. 17, which came back "clean," according to Friedell. Friedell provided comments from Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau.
"It's clean, so it's good," Thibodeau said. "He's making progress, so we'll see where he is when we get back."
On Friday, Jan. 16, Noah commented on his ankle injury, via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
Based on the clean MRI results, it appears Noah's thoughts regarding the extent of his injury were accurate.
Noah Suffers Ankle Injury vs. Wizards, Leaves in Walking Boot
Wednesday, Jan. 14
According to the Bulls, the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year suffered an ankle injury against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, Jan. 14:
"Noah left the United Center in a walking boot," revealed ESPN's Nick Friedell following the game.
Noah has become recognized as an elite big over the past couple of seasons, but the 2014-15 campaign has been a struggle for him thus far. In addition to his numbers being down in comparison to his All-Star production in the two previous seasons, Noah has been banged up on numerous occasions as well.
That forced him to miss a game, and although he returned to action fairly quickly, he was injured once again when he rolled his ankle about a week later, per CBS Sports NBA:
Simply put, Noah has been extremely unlucky this season. He has never played an entire regular-season slate, but the sheer amount of injuries he has dealt with in 2014-15 is far beyond anything he has experienced previously.
The Bulls are definite contenders in the Eastern Conference with players like Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol, but it can be argued that Noah is the biggest key to their success moving forward.
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