“Being in a Position to Win a Championship”: LA Clippers Forward Sends Strong Message After Commanding Scrimmage

The NBA witnessed its ‘new normal’ when the scrimmage between the LA Clippers and Orlando Magic took off. Clippers defeated Magic 99-90 but the man who turned the heads was Joakim Noah. 

The two-time NBA All-Star played with the Chicago Bulls for a decade after getting drafted in the year 2007. Later, he played for the New York Knicks and then got traded to the Memphis Grizzlies with a salary of over $1.7 million for the season 2018-19. It was not until June when he signed a deal with LA Clippers.

LA Clippers must be happy with the signing

Joakim has come out of a career-threatening Achilles injury. He had trained very hard to come back into shape. Speaking of it, he says, “So I kept training, and to be in this position right now, I feel very fortunate to be in this position. Being with God, great players, being in a position to win a championship. It’s not something that I take for granted.”

The Veteran must have brought shine on the face of Doc Rivers with his decent debut for the side. It must not have been easy to put up a show with a new side and no audience to suck in some motivation from. This was the initial on-court taste of the Orlando Bubble. But the tip-off worked his way when he could push the ball towards Reggie Jackson beating Magic’s Nikola Vucevic.

So that is how the Clippers got themselves on the board. This must-have injected enough self-confidence into the otherwise veteran player.

A day to remember…

He played for 15 minutes. In that time, he scored 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists. That calls for an all-round performance. The top center players like Ivica Zubac and Montrezl Harrell did not play, and that allowed space for Joakim. Also, it was a treat to watch Paul George and Lou Williams in action after so long.

Noah said, “No prima donnas on the Clippers” and this has left people guess-making if it’s a remark against LeBron? We don’t know that, but we sure know that the Clippers coach is impressed by Joakim’s play. We will get to see him play alongside.

After the game, the head coach said, “Well, he’s an elite passer. We already knew that.” He added, “What I loved was his screening and rolling.” Now, this is something that will put Joakim out of his comfort zone and it will interest to see how he again pulls this against the Lakers on July 31st.

Also read- WATCH: Paul George and Bol Bol Go Crazy as NBA Officially Returns Inside the Orlando Bubble