The Knicks arrived at the morning shootaround at Pepsi Arena, but they were without Joakim Noah, who left the team for personal reasons.
Noah, who has appeared in just seven games this season and appeared for four and a half minutes of garbage time Tuesday at Golden State, was expected to miss Thursday’s game against the Nuggets and the final game of the seven-game road trip in Phoenix on Friday. But the Knicks were vague about what the issue is and what comes next.
“Yeah, for these two games and we’ll see,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said. Asked if Noah was OK, he would only say, “We’re not going to comment on that stuff. Personal reasons, he won’t be with us the next couple of games.”
Noah is in the second year of a four-year, $72 million contract he signed in the summer of 2016. The contract is considered to be untradeable. He has played in just seven games this season as he has become the Knicks’ fourth-string center behind Enes Kanter, Kyle O’Quinn, and Willy Hernangomez. He is averaging 1.7 points, two rebounds, and 0.3 blocks this season.
According to a source close to the veteran center, Noah shouted at head coach Jeff Hornacek after Hornacek removed him in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors.
“It didn’t look good,” the source said. “Joakim is obviously frustrated that he hasn’t been playing and then he finally goes in and he didn’t get much of a chance.”
The Knicks are acting like Noah may not be available for an extended period of time because they recalled rookie shooting guard Damyean Dotson from the G-League to replace Noah on the active roster. Dotson was with Westchester for the G-League Showcase in Toronto and appeared in the team’s last four games.
Noah’s inaugural season with the Knicks was interrupted by injury and a 20-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy. Last year, Noah played his final game of the 2016-17 season on Feb. 4.
