There’s a picture of Joakim Noah that was taken by USA Today shortly after he won a state championship with the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. He’s 19 years old but looks younger — his head is cocked and he doesn’t have scruff yet, and his hair is a springy mop of puffed up curls, not long and flowing or tied up in a bun, like he’d wear it in later years.
He’s wearing a Knicks jersey.
That’s really no surprise to anyone who knows Noah, the 31-year-old former Chicago Bulls center who this week agreed a 4-year, $72 million deal with the Knicks.