Joakim Noah revisited Cleveland years after his rivalry with the Cavaliers and admitted he was happy the city finally won a championship, even if he wished it had been Chicago.
On his final day in Cleveland, Joakim Noah paused in the snow to read the cap worn by his security detail, which bore two words: Cavaliers and champions. For years, Noah couldn't utter the phrase aloud or even look at it.
"I wish it was us, but I'm happy you guys got it," Noah said, extending his hand.
The exchange comes from a feature on Noah's post-playing life by The Athletic's Joel Lorenzi and Jeshua Kidd, reported during three days he spent in the city in late January.
The Cleveland Cavaliers won that title 10 years ago, beating Golden State in seven games for the first championship in franchise history. Cleveland went 57-25 that regular season. David Blatt opened the year as head coach, and Tyronn Lue replaced him in January.
Cleveland eliminated Noah's Chicago Bulls in five games in the 2010 first round and in six in the 2015 Eastern Conference semifinals. The 2015-16 season, the title year, was Noah's last in Chicago.
He was drafted ninth overall in 2007 out of Florida, where he won two NCAA championships. Over 13 NBA seasons and 672 regular-season games with the Bulls, New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies and Clippers, Noah averaged 8.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists. Nine of those seasons were in Chicago.
In 2013-14, Noah set career highs of 12.6 points, 11.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists. He won Defensive Player of the Year that spring, the first Bull to take the award since Michael Jordan in 1987-88. Chicago held opponents to a league-low 91.8 points. Noah also made the All-NBA First Team and finished fourth in MVP voting. He made two All-Star teams, earned three All-Defensive honors and won the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2015.
Noah's opinion of the city had not changed by October 2016, when the Knicks opened the season in Cleveland on the night the Cavaliers received their championship rings.
"Even though it's not a vacation spot, you guys got your championship," he said, according to the New York Daily News.
The Cleveland trip was filmed for "Nomad," Noah's travel series. It runs on the YouTube channel of NBAT2, the joint venture between the NBA and Take-Two Interactive. The series premiered Nov. 11, 2025, with an episode in Chicago alongside Derrick Rose. Morocco, Serbia, and Jamaica followed. The Cleveland episode ran roughly 18 minutes and debuted the first weekend of April.
Cleveland reached the Eastern Conference finals last season for the first time since 2018, beating Toronto and Detroit before the New York Knicks swept them in four. Dean Wade left for Philadelphia this summer, Keon Ellis for Brooklyn, and Larry Nance Jr. for Indiana. Mario Hezonja signed a one-year contract worth $2.8 million that is non-guaranteed until Nov. 15. The Peyton Watson sign-and-trade ran four years and $88 million and left the Cavaliers without a tradable first-round pick.
"Nomad" is in its second season, with new episodes published weekly. Noah opened it in Japan and has episodes ahead in Korea, France, Senegal, and Puerto Rico.
