“Brought Me Up to the Office”: How a Viral Tweet Led to Joakim Noah’s Favorite Memory With Tom Thibodeau

With social media giving athletes a different platform to communicate with fans more easily today, many are actively taking time out to create content. Joakim Noah, a former NBA player, finds it awe-inspiring how those same stars who play 82 games a season manage to dish out new podcasts and shows.

That’s what Noah spoke about on the Roommates Show podcast, hosted by Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. But while commending the New York Knicks duo, he also made a joke about having to think about content creation while playing under their former head coach, Tom Thibodeau.

“I can’t even imagine doing a podcast and coming to practice and seeing Thibs’ face the next day. I respect it… ” Noah cheekily stated, before recalling his own funny incident with the man.

“One of my favorite Thibs moments was when Twitter had just come out. I shot a 3 in practice, and I made it. And Thibs is like, ‘This is what the f*** we’re doing, guys? Are you serious, Joakim? You’re over here shooting 3s, what is this a f****** joke?” Noah revealed, reminiscing about the days when Thibodeau coached him at the Chicago Bulls.

“I got to the locker room after practice and said, ‘I hit a 3 in practice today…Thibs started hating, though.’ And I remember it went a little viral,” Noah added. “Nothing crazy, but people were laughing about it. I remember coming in the next day and Thibs was not happy about it. Brought me up to the office to talk about it. Like, ‘Don’t play me like that.'”

Hart, like Noah, knows about Thibodeau’s mentality. It’s not that he didn’t gel well with the players; it’s just that the ex-Knicks head coach had a different way of doing things. “He’d always make a couple of little comments. Somebody would be doing something and he’d say, ‘Get your podcast buddy,'” Hart added.

There could be an argument for both cases. On the one hand, basketball should have been what Brunson and Hart were focused on last season, especially during a year when the Knicks had a real chance to win the East. On the other hand, it is 2025. Being a multi-talented, multitasking content machine is part of the modern landscape.

So really, it just shows how much the sport has evolved and how much players like Brunson and Hart reflect this new era. Thibs might roll his eyes at the idea of stars juggling jump shots and podcast mics, but today’s athletes are built to operate in multiple lanes without losing sight of the main goal.

Noah’s story proves that the generational divide is real, but it is also pretty funny in hindsight. As long as the Knicks keep winning and their leaders stay locked in, nobody is going to care whether the latest episode dropped after a back-to-back. They will just hit play.

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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