JUST SAY NOAH!
Knick: Taking supplement ‘backfired’
An apologetic Joakim Noah said he failed a drug test after independently ingesting supplements to help recover from injuries, and now he’s prepared to “take the suspension like a man.”
Ironically before Noah was forced to sit 20 games like a man, he was nailed with a testosterone booster in his system, specifically Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator LGD-4033. The 32-year-old, who has been dealing with hamstring and knee issues, said he ingested a supplement bought over the counter without knowing it contained a dirty substance.
“I want to just start by saying I made a mistake. It was a tough year for me, for this team. I want to start by apologizing to my teammates, to the Knicks, to the organization,” Noah said. “I let a lot of people down. It was a mistake. And I gotta learn from it and bounce back. This is a tough moment and I’m going to learn from it. I tried to take a supplement to help me with everything that I was going through. I’ve gone through a lot of injuries and I tried to take something to help me and it backfired. So I know it didn’t come from a bad place. I was working with the league on this for a while. I think the punishment of 20 games is severe. But it is what it is and I gotta bounce back.”
Noah said he tried to be “as transparent as possible” with the NBA during its investigation. But with reporters Tuesday, he cut off the interview after about 4½ minutes and didn’t want delve into details or timelines.
The Knicks center went through non-contact practice Tuesday after being cleared by Knicks doctors, and is awaiting confirmation from the NBA that he can begin his 20-game suspension Wednesday against the Heat. If that’s the case, he’ll be fined a total of $2.7 million and miss the remaining eight games of this season, followed by the first 12 of the 2017-18 campaign. Of course the league still has to review and approve the clearance for Noah, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Feb. 27.
Noah said the league’s investigation “has been going on for a while,” and indicated he was duped by the supplement.
“I’ve heard that message many times (that you have to be careful with supplements not approved by the team). But you know, you have to be careful with these supplements. I wanted to do something to help myself, help my body. And like I said, it backfired,” Noah said. “I tried to take the right measures when I was taking supplements. And it wasn’t enough. “I don’t really want to get into the details and all that. It was a long process. I think the people in the league were very cooperative. I tried to be as transparent as possible. But like I said, with these supplements you got to be careful because sometimes they have other things in them that they don’t say. It’s a tough lesson to learn. But everything in life has its purpose. I know that right now it’s a tough situation to be in, not being there with my teammates out there on the court, but I’m going to take the suspension like a man and move on.” Noah did not recall the name of the supplement. But NBA players being blindsided by banned ingredients isn’t as common as Noah suggested. Since the first in 2007, only seven players have been suspended for PED-related substances. Noah is the first in three years. After signing a $72 million contract over the summer, Noah has dealt with knee, hamstring an ankle injuries. He averaged just five points over 46 games this season, and hasn’t played since Feb. 4. Jeff Hornacek said he still sees value in Noah’s intangibles. “When you get older you learn different things but you always have that veteran leadership,” the coach said. “Your voice. As long as he stays on the court and is able to be at all the practices and not injured, that leadership is big. Young guys have to step up their leadership too. Jo’s always played with an intense way of (about) him when he’s out there on the court. And all that stuff kind of permeates to all the other guys when he’s doing that.” In Noah’s extended absence, rookie Willy Hernangomez has emerged as a top prospect and perhaps the future starting center for the Knicks − even though Noah has three years remaining on his robust contract. “We’ll take a look at everything when we go into next season guys are going to have to earn spots and earn the minutes and we’re going to have to figure out which guys work best together,” Hornacek said. “(Hernangomez and Kristaps Porzingis) have a little good chemistry that they either had from playing with each other before or developed even more so this year so that gives us a couple options.”