Back when those Florida Gators teams were busy dominating UCLA in the Final Four, I always thought Al Horford was the best player on their squad. That sentiment seems to be validated by the performance of all the Florida players in the pros thus far. One thing I will admit however, was that I never expected Joakim Noah to present this much of a problem in the NBA. This has actually been going on all season long for Joakim. If you remember a few months back I told you about Joakim screwing up on his rookie donut duty. Then after his first game, Joakim criticized his team’s effort and was muzzled by then head coach Scott Skiles. And now The People’s Princess has been benched for at least a game, as decided by his teammates. As you could imagine, Noah is not happy about it:
“They just told me what I did was unacceptable and I’m just going to move on from here,” Noah said. “I’ve just got to accept it. What do you want me to say? I’ve just got to move on. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
When asked if he believes the two-game suspension is too severe, Noah said “Ask the players who made the decision. I don’t know. … Do I agree with it? It doesn’t make a difference. I respect my teammates.”
Somehow I don’t think the proper response to being benched by your teammates is not “It doesn’t make a difference.” I’m not sure what the deal is with Joakim, but he’s starting to become more of The People’s Starbury than he is a princess. You better believe he’ll be out of Chicago soon as his contract is up. Can you say bust?
