Joakim Noah: Plantar fasciitis feels like having needles under your foot

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah is one of a number of professional athletes who are struggling through a painful condition known as plantar fasciitis. Noah said that he felt good after practice on Wednesday, but the nagging pain in his foot will undoubtedly continue until he is able to rest it for a long period of time.

“Plantar fasciitis sucks,” he told the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday. “It feels like you have needles underneath your foot while you’re playing. That’s what it feels like, so you can imagine. You need to jump, you need to run, you need to do a lot of things while you’re playing basketball, so you don’t want needles underneath your foot, right?”

So far, Noah has been pretty successful with battling through the pain. He scored nine points in the fourth quarter of a 90-82 Game 2 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday.

“It’s not easy, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” said Noah. “These are the hands I’ve been given, so I’m just trying to stay focused on trying to get better every day and I’m just happy to be able to be on the court.”

On the opposing side, Joe Johnson has been dealing with the same condition. He missed practice on Wednesday and has been labeled a game-time decision for Thursday, so it seems like Noah has the pain under control a bit more than the Nets star.

And it’s not just limited to NBA players. Albert Pujols has been battling soreness in his foot all season and LA Angels manager Mike Scioscia recently said Pujols has been playing at only around 70% health. It looks like he could soon be headed for the disabled list, and plantar fasciitis is to blame. Somebody stop this condition before it destroys professional sports.

Photo credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE