Joakim Noah to have season-ending shoulder surgery

Chicago Bulls centre Joakim Noah needs surgery on his dislocated left shoulder and will likely be out for the rest of the National Basketball Association season, the team announced on Saturday.

Noah sustained the injury in Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, which may be Noah’s last game in a Bulls uniform.

The 6-foot-11, 232-pounder is averaging a career-low 4.3 points and 8.8 rebounds as a reserve for the Bulls this season under first-year coach Fred Hoiberg.

Joakim Noah separated his shoulder for the second time in the past month.

The Bulls will need to replace Noah’s inside presence. In all likelihood, Noah’s season is complete, and it’s quite possible that his nine-year career in Chicago has run its course.

“When you see that happen to someone like Jo, who is the energy guy on this team, it is going to affect us”, said Hoiberg, though he added that he didn’t think it affected the outcome of the game as much as other factors.

The Chicago Bulls were just starting to heat up again, and they are already being hit with a major setback. Of the 10 times he has played 35 or more minutes, five have come when Noah was sidelined.

The Chicago Bulls are in a bit of a rut right now as they have lost four of their last five games.

Noah first injured the shoulder towards the end of December against the Brooklyn Nets which forced him to miss nine games.

Though in his way there’s never been anyone in Chicago like Joakim Noah, who arrived with more panache, produced so many highlights and spoke to the community like no one else ever did.

“He’s one of the emotional leaders”, said Taj Gibson. Future Hall of Fame power forward Dirk Nowitzki, just voted the third-best to ever play his position by ESPN, played a huge role in another win over the Bulls on Friday night. Noah is expected to have a full recovery and his surgery date has not been set yet.

“Injuries are probably the worst moment for an athlete”, Gasol said.

Hoiberg discounted the possibility of a trade to fill the Noah void: “You’re always listening and talking and making calls”.

Noah passionately recruited Gasol in free agency during the 2014 offseason.

“It hurt, it hurt, just knowing how hard he worked, how hard he wants to be on the court, how much he means to this team, it’s devastating.”

“Everybody’s got to be ready to fill in for what Jo gave us, which was a lot”. “We said, ‘Hey, let’s play to exhaustion and see if we can claw back in this thing'”.