Before joining the Lakers in 2018, LeBron James was the final boss of the Eastern Conference. He wreaked havoc in the playoffs and made it to nine NBA Finals in 12 years with two different franchises. Among his slew of victims were Joakim Noah and the Bulls, who tried their best but could never get past the forward, which made the center respect and loathe him.
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During an appearance on the All The Smoke Podcast, the crew and the retired star discussed James’ and Chicago’s rivalry in the early 2010s. The former Bulls center spoke about his team and the Cavaliers’ playoff matchup in the first round of the 2010 playoffs.
He revealed that he witnessed the four-time MVP’s otherworldly talent firsthand and was thoroughly impressed. However, he wasn’t too pleased about some of his shenanigans. Noah said,
“When you’re playing for a championship, you got to you got to go through the best and LeBron James was the best. Sometimes you could see how my heart was in it 2000%, like there was no faking. And LeBron was so talented and so good, you know he would get, he would start dancing and it would just like piss me off.”
Host Matt Barnes said he could tell how much he despised James and the Cavaliers by his infamous press conference, where he dissed Cleveland. They even rewatched the clip and chuckled. In the clip, a reporter asked the center if he regrets his unsavory comments about the city. Noah responded,
“No… You like it? You think Cleveland’s cool? I mean, I never heard anybody say ‘I’m going to Cleveland on vacation’. What’s so good about Cleveland?”
His disdain for James’ antics certainly played a role in his decision to diss Cleveland. However, the forward never took his comments to heart and continued to mock the Bulls throughout the series.
LeBron James did not take Joakim Noah and the Bulls seriously
While Chicago was playing with intensity to try to pull off an upset win over Cleveland, James looked lackadaisical in that 2010 series. He danced, joked, and smiled at the camera, riling up Joakim Noah and the other Bulls players.
A compilation video of his antics showcased how annoyed the center was. At one point, even Shaquille O’Neal joined the fun and shimmied. It was understandably difficult for James and the Cavaliers to feel the need to pull their socks up and play intently during that series.
They won Games 1 and 2 by double digits, lost Game 3, thrashed the Bulls by 23 points in Game 4, and eeked out a narrow win in Game 5 to win the series 4-1. James averaged 31.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 8.2 assists and led the Cavaliers to the second round. Unfortunately for Noah and the Bulls, as annoyed as they were, they couldn’t do much to stop the forward on the court or his shenanigans.
