CHICAGO — The home locker room at the United Center was beginning to clear out late Monday night, but Joakim Noah was waiting around.
His presence had been requested for a more formal postgame news conference, and Noah was ready to go, except there was a problem: The teammate who was supposed to accompany him was still decompressing from the Bulls’ victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their first-round series.
“Hey, Jimbo,” Noah said quietly as he rolled by Jimmy Butler’s locker, “just tell me when you’re ready.”
Butler was operating on his own schedule after steering the Bulls to a two-games-to-none lead in a physical, foul-filled series that will resume Thursday night in Milwaukee.