So much for Joakim Noah being done for the season.
Well, technically, Noah is done for the season. Even if he’s healthy enough to play, he has to serve a 20-game suspension for violating the NBA’s list of banned substances—an over-the-counter infraction, for what it’s worth. He wouldn’t see the court this year; however many games he misses would just be ticked off next season’s ledger.
The New York Knicks are hoping they get that chance, per the New York Post‘s Marc Berman:
With an urgency to get his drug-suspension clock to start ticking, Noah huddled with Knicks doctors Monday night in an attempt to get him to be cleared for Tuesday’s practice.
If cleared for practice, the Knicks would lobby for the NBA to have his 20-game suspension begin with the Miami game Wednesday. NBA doctors will need to examine Noah before Wednesday’s game.
If the NBA gives him the OK before the Miami tip-off, he would serve the final eight games of this season – and “just’’ 12 to start next season.
Oh, Knicks.
Granted, this is the smart play. The Knicks didn’t give Noah four years and $72.6 million to miss most of this season and then at least one-quarter of next year. Getting him cleared shouldn’t put him at risk of further injury, because he won’t actually be playing.
And yet, the entire situation, in its bizarreness, is so Knicks. They’re literally trying to get a player cleared to play just so he still can’t play. Smart move or not, this is one of many developments that epitomize their disastrous season.
Knicks on, y’all.
