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Florida basketball: 10 best NBA careers in Gators history

By Josh Yourish

Mar 9, 2007; Atlanta, GA, USA; Florida Gators guard Taurean Green (11), forward Al Horford (42) and forward Joakim Noah wait between plays against the Georgia Bulldogs during the second half of a quarterfinal round SEC Tournament game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. Floirda won 74-57. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2007 Jason Parkhurst
Mar 9, 2007; Atlanta, GA, USA; Florida Gators guard Taurean Green (11), forward Al Horford (42) and forward Joakim Noah wait between plays against the Georgia Bulldogs during the second half of a quarterfinal round SEC Tournament game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. Floirda won 74-57. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2007 Jason Parkhurst /
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No. 1 best Florida basketball NBA career: Joakim Noah

  • Drafted: 2007 No. 9 overall
  • NBA career games: 672
  • NBA PPG: 8.8

As I said, Horford has Noah beat in terms of longevity, but he never reached the heights that Noah did in Chicago. The Bulls selected Noah and he didn’t make an immediate impact. It took time for Noah to develop his game, but eventually turned into one of the most dominant defenders in the NBA.

The Bulls with Noah and Derrick Rose became the No. 1 contenders to The Big 3 in Miami. Chicago’s identity came from Noah because of his toughness and when Rose went down with a torn ACL, it became his team.

The Bulls won 62 games in 2010-11 when Rose was the MVP, but he only played 39 games the next year and none in 2012-13.  Noah was already an All-Star in the 2012-13 season, but in 2013-14 when Rose played just 10 games, Noah elevated his play.

Joakim Noah only averaged 12.6 points that season, but he finished fourth in MVP voting because of how great he was at everything else. He averaged 11.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists with 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks. He won the Defensive Player of the Year award and the Bulls won 48 games.

Rose’s injuries held Chicago back from ever winning a title, but Noah kept the Bulls afloat without him and was All-NBA First-Team. Horford made All-NBA Third-Team once in 2010-11.

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