NBA: Urgency to get healthy ‘backfired’ on suspended Noah
GREENBURGH, N.Y.— Joakim Noah was seeking help to overcome injuries that wrecked his first season in New York and turned to an over-thecounter supplement.
That decision “backfired,” Noah said Tuesday.
It led to a 20-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy, preventing Noah from ending a disappointing year on a positive note.
“This was a tough moment, but I’m going to learn from it,” Noah said. “I tried to take a supplement to help me with everything I’ve gone through. I’ve gone through a lot of injuries, and I tried to take something to help me and it backfired.”
Noah returned to practice Tuesday following Feb. 27 surgery to remove a loose body from his left knee. The knee injury came after a hamstring injury he was trying to recover from around the All-Star break.
All told, he managed just 46 games in the first season of a four-year, $72- million (U.S.) contract he signed last summer.
“I wanted to do something to help myself, help my body and like I said it backfired on me,” Noah said. “I tried to take the right measures when I was taking the supplements and it wasn’t enough.”
The league cited Noah for Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator LGD-4033. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has said that the substance, known as SARMs, has "similar properties to anabolic agents, but . . . the lack of steroid-related side effects."
Noah was in the midst of a second straight injury-plagued season. He was limited to 29 games in his final season in Chicago because of a left shoulder injury that required surgery.