COURT OF APPEAL
Back to practice, Noah admits 'mistake,' asks for forgiveness
The 20-game suspension is “severe,” Knicks center Joakim Noah believes, but he accepts his punishment because ultimately only he is to blame for “a mistake” in taking an over-the-counter supplement that contained a banned substance.
“I made a mistake,” an apologetic Noah said Tuesday following practice in Tarrytown, a non-contact session he participated in. “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. I let a lot of people down. It was a mistake. I got to learn from it and bounce back.”
The NBA slapped Noah, who signed a four-year, $72 million freeagent deal with the Knicks last summer, with the ban Saturday “for violating the terms of the NBA/ NBPA Anti-Drug Program by testing positive for Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator LGD-4033,” an over-the-counter supplement containing anabolic properties.
According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the substance Noah used has “similar properties to anabolic agents, but ... [with] the lack of steroid-related side effects.”
Noah could begin his suspension Wednesday, when the Knicks look to stave off inevitable playoff elimination for another day against Miami at the Garden. Noah’s ban starts with the first regularseason game he is physically able to play. He last played Feb. 4 because of knee issues.
Noah said Knicks team doctors cleared him to play, so he practiced Tuesday. But he still must get a green light from league physicians. If cleared by the league to play Wednesday, he would miss the last eight games of this wretched campaign and the first 12 next season.
“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,” said Noah, limited to 46 games in this injury-wracked season. “I’ve gone through a lot of injuries and I tried to take something to help me and it backfired.
“I think that I got punished for 20 games is severe,” Noah said. “But it is what it is and I got to bounce back.
“This is outside the team. Like I said, this is all my doing.”
Noah was hit with injuries from the outset, suffering an ankle injury in training camp. A hamstring issue followed. On Feb. 27, he underwent surgery to remove loose particles in his left knee. So he sought to aid the healing. Players are routinely cautioned by the league, the Players Association and their teams about exercising caution with supplements.
“I’ve heard that message many times. … I wanted to do something to help myself, help my body,” Noah 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 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.” The Knicks will, too. “He’s apologized to the guys, the team and you move on. You can’t do anything about it now,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “We’re just glad to see him back on the court. … We’ll miss him the rest of the year and the beginning of next year.”
Noah, a former Defensive Player of the Year, had a decidedly down season with the Knicks, averaging 5.0 points and 8.7 rebounds. But Hornacek stressed you throw out the numbers regarding Noah.
“When you get older, you learn different things but you always have that veteran leadership. 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,” Hornacek said. “Jo’s always played with an intense way.
“I don’t think we ever expected him to come in here and try to score 12, 15 points. Just his rolling to the basket opens things up for our guys. His defensive rebounding. His ability to be in the right spots at the right times where most veteran guys are pretty good at that,” Hornacek said. “Sometimes we look at the offensive side of how guys do. We never expect Jo to be that big scorer.”