Joakim was the Most Outstanding Player in 2006 and won the 2006 and 2007 NCAA Men’s Championship. He’s proven he’s a force to be reckoned with, and The Wilson Advisory Staff is truly honored to add Noah to its long history of prestigious players. We look forward to partnering with one of the most recognized basketball players in the world as we continue to create the best performing basketballs in the game.

“Wilson is so thrilled to partner with Joakim Noah,” says Alan Davenport, Global Business Director for Wilson Basketball. “His energy, passion and love for the game is undeniably authentic and we are really excited about working together. Joakim will be a great addition to the Wilson team. His knowledge of the game will help us to make new innovative products and he will be a great ambassador for our brand.”

“I am both excited and challenged to be working with Wilson to develop and market a first class basketball,” says Joakim Noah. “Wilson has always been a leader in sports globally and I look forward to working closely with them.”

With the NBA season starting in December, Noah will begin his fifth season with the Chicago Bulls and compete alongside fellow Wilson Advisory Staff member Derrick Rose. He will also play for the France National Team on their quest for gold in the 2012 London Olympics. Noah spent 10 years of his childhood in France along with his famous father, Yannick. They make up one of the most popular families in the country. While he plays on the Olympic team, Wilson will launch a line of Joakim Noah Signature Series basketballs. This innovative basketball line will be sold globally with its attention focused in France, where Noah will do a number of appearances. Bearing Noah’s name and likeness, this basketball line will showcase the hard work, passion, spirit for life and style that he brings to the court.

With the input of Noah’s invaluable foresight, knowledge and hard working demeanor, Wilson is excited to continue making ground-breaking products that will bring more win to athletes at every level of play.

Chicago-based Wilson Sporting Goods Co., a division of Amer Sports, is the world’s leading manufacturer of sports equipment, apparel and accessories. Through its dedication to creating products that enable athletes at every level to perform at their best, Wilson has earned its place as a leader in sporting goods for almost a century.

BlackAtlas: BlackAtlas.com is all about travel and expanding your boundaries. What was the last great city you visited, here or abroad?

Joakim: The last great city I visited…I would have to say Paris because I love going home. I lived there for ten years. And being able to see my family… It’s a very different environment, just going back to Paris. The architecture, the history with all of the buildings and the churches. It’s a really pretty city.

BlackAtlas: I agree. Along those lines, I’ve read that you have American, Swedish and French citizenship. How do you think that early exposure to so many cultures has shaped your life views?

Joakim: Well, I think it’s definitely shaped me in a lot of ways, just being able to compare all of the different cultures. You don’t realize it as a kid, but I feel like I was very privileged just growing up and being able to experience all of these different cultures – you’re given the opportunity to put things side by side and say, “I like this better than that; I like this country better than this country.” I think that’s very important, because when all you know is one culture, you’re not able to do that, you’re not able to compare and contrast.

BlackAtlas: So, if you had to give us one must-see or must-do from each of those countries, what would they be?

Joakim: The nature of all three of those countries is so different. First of all, America is so big and it has so many different cultures around the country – I’m in LA right now, and you can’t just compare it to place like New York, you know? America in itself, there’s just so much variety. I just came back from Wyoming and the people were still wearing cowboy boots and cowboy hats. Compared to where I’m from in New York, that’s a little bit different, and New York is probably one of the most diverse places in the world. I would consider myself from New York, so for New York specifically, I would say the variety of types of people that you see on a day-to-day basis. That’s an interesting thing about America.
For Sweden, where my mother is from, it’s an hour away from Göteborg. I would say the tranquility of the city of Göteborg, how pretty the nature is, and the simplicity of the city.
For France, I would say what’s most interesting is the history of the buildings in the city of Paris. When you think of the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower, it’s very impressive. Even though I lived there, everything is very detail-oriented and the architecture has always fascinated me.

BlackAtlas: Have you come across any surprises while traveling in regards to black culture? For instance, I just got back from Finland and I found out that there are almost 13,000 Somalis that live there…just one of those things where you’re like, “Wow! I would have never thought…”

Joakim: I think that some people don’t realize that Black culture in America compared to Black culture in France is very, very different. When you look at Black culture in America in terms of roots, people don’t really know what country they’re from. There is no direct link to African heritage. In France, black people know what country they came from, they know whether they’re from the islands, Guadeloupe – they know what country in Africa they’re from…black people over there identify with being from Cameroon, ivory coast, Senegal. The African history is shot in America because of slavery. The difference is pretty interesting. In Sweden, there’s not too many black people, and I’m only half black, and I feel very unique when I’m out there. My mother comes from a little farmland and, I’m not going to lie, when I go for a jog or something, I feel a bit alienated.

BlackAtlas: How does travel differ for you from when you were a “regular person,” to now, as a celebrated basketball player?

Joakim: Hmmm…I guess the thing is, my father was a pretty famous tennis player, and I got to grow up with that a little bit for my whole life. It wasn’t until I moved to New York with my mother and my sister that we kind of got away from that. So most of my traveling was with my father – and there was always that element, the whole fame thing. But I feel like, you know, when I moved to New York when I was twelve years old with my mother and sister, which really shaped me into who I am today.

BlackAtlas: Since you travel a lot, can you share any travel tips with us? Anything that you feel makes traveling easier?

Joakim: No question. When traveling, I think it’s important to be very open-minded. I think some people go to all these exotic places but they want to stay in the resort. I think it’s important to be able to learn about the culture and go outside of your normal boundaries, go past staying at the beach and your resort. It sometimes takes knowing somebody in the country that you’re going to, to make all the difference in traveling. If you know somebody that can bring you into their world and show you more of their culture, I don’t think staying within the confines of your hotel really lets you do that.

BlackAtlas: Agreed. Can you tell us about Noah’s Arc Foundation?

Joakim: Noah’s Arc Foundation is something that started with my mom, and we just started this about a year ago, so it’s relatively new. It’s a great foundation that helps kids – it teaches kids how to express themselves in a positive way, whether it’s through sports or through art. My mom does the art aspect of it and I handle the sports. I know for me, as a kid, all my frustrations always came out on the court. It just gave me a way to express myself and release my tension, my anger, and however I felt during the day. I think that’s it’s crucial for kids to know that there are effective ways to do that, otherwise all of their built up emotions can be destructive, as well. My mom is an artist and a sculptor, and what my mom teaches through the foundation is that, through sculpture, a kid can express himself and that’s a beautiful thing.

BlackAtlas: How do you usually spend your time during the off-season, or right now during the NBA lockout?
Joakim: How do I spend my time? I just learned how to paddle surf, so that’s pretty cool. I’m pretty happy about that. I love being in the sun. And in the off-season, I’m always training and training’s something I love to do. That’s usually what I do: train, sit in the sun, party a little bit…

BlackAtlas: Just a little, huh?

Joakim: I definitely know how to enjoy life!

Neither side provided many specifics but said the only words players and fans wanted to hear.

“We want to play basketball,” NBA commissioner David Stern said.

After a secret meeting earlier this week, the sides met for more than 15 hours Friday, working to try to save the season. This handshake deal, however, still must be ratified by both owners and players.

Stern said it was “subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations, but we’re optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin Dec. 25.”

Barring a change in scheduling, the 2011-12 season will open with the Boston Celtics at New York Knicks, followed by Miami at Dallas in an NBA Finals rematch before MVP Derrick Rose and Chicago close the tripleheader against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers.

President Barack Obama gave a thumbs-up when told about the tentative settlement after he finished playing basketball at Fort McNair in Washington on Saturday morning.

The league plans a 66-game season and aims to open training camps Dec. 9. Stern has said it would take about 30 days from an agreement to playing the first game.

“All I feel right now is ‘finally,’ ” Dwyane Wade told The Associated Press.

Multiple league sources confirmed to ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Dave McMenamin that the NBA All-Star Game would be held in Orlando as scheduled, though a date has yet to be finalized.

Just 12 days after talks broke down and Stern declared the NBA could be headed to a “nuclear winter,” he sat next to union executive director Billy Hunter to announce the deal.

“We thought it was in both of our interest to try to reach a resolution and save the game and to be able to provide the kind of superb entertainment the NBA historically has provided,” Hunter said.

The NBA plans to start a 66-game schedule on Christmas Day after training camps open and free agency begins Dec. 9:A majority on each side is needed to approve the agreement. The NBA needs votes from 15 of 29 owners. (The league owns the New Orleans Hornets.)

Stern said the labor committee plans to discuss the agreement later Saturday and expects them to endorse it and recommend to the full board.

The union needs a simple majority of its 430-plus members. That process is a bit more complicated after the players dissolved the union Nov. 14. Now, they must drop their antitrust lawsuit in Minnesota and re-form the union before voting on the deal.

Because the union disbanded, a new collective bargaining agreement can be completed only once the union has re-formed. Drug testing and other issues still must be negotiated between the league and the players.

“We’re very pleased we’ve come this far,” Stern said. “There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Participating in the talks for the league were Stern, deputy commissioner Adam Silver, Spurs owner Peter Holt, the chairman of the labor relations committee, and attorneys Rick Buchanan and Dan Rube.

The players were represented by executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher, vice president Maurice Evans, attorney Ron Klempner and economist Kevin Murphy.

Owners locked out the players July 1, and the sides spent most of the summer and fall battling over the division of revenues and other changes owners wanted in a new collective bargaining agreement.

They said they lost hundreds of millions of dollars in each year of the former deal, ratified in 2005, and they wanted a system where the big-market teams wouldn’t have the ability to outspend their smaller counterparts.

“This was not an easy agreement for anyone. The owners came in having suffered substantial losses and feeling the system wasn’t working fairly across all teams,” Silver said. “I certainly know the players had strong views about expectations in terms of what they should be getting from the system. It required a lot of compromise from both parties’ part, and I think that’s what we saw today.”

But it was never easy. The day required multiple calls with the owners’ labor relations committee, all the while knowing another breakdown in talks would mean not only the loss of the Christmas schedule, but also throw the entire season in jeopardy.

Stern said that despite some “bumps” Friday evening, “the greater good required us to knock ourselves out and come to this tentative understanding.”

He denied the litigation was a factor in accelerating a deal, but things happened relatively quickly after the players filed a suit that could have won them some $6 billion in damages if the court ruled the lockout was illegal.

“For us the litigation is something that just has to be dealt with,” Stern said. “It was not the reason for the settlement. The reason for the settlement was we’ve got fans, we’ve got players who would like to play and we’ve got others who are dependent on us.

“And it’s always been our goal to reach a deal that was fair to both sides and get us playing as soon as possible, but that took a little time.”

And led to the second shortened season in NBA history, joining the 1998-99 lockout that reduced the schedule to 50 games. This time the league will miss 16 games off the normal schedule.

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah is scheduled to leave for France on Monday to begin preparation for a stint with Team France in the European Championships in Lithuania, according to a source close to the situation.

Noah, who has dual U.S. and French citizenship, is expected to be overseas for the next two months as the NBA lockout carries on.

France opens play in the European Championships on Aug. 31 against Latvia. The tournament runs through Sept. 18.

Noah, 26, averaged 11.7 points and 10.4 rebounds in 48 regular season games for the Bulls last season.

A hallway in the Bulls’ practice facility comes to a dead end at a collection of photographs.
In the middle is a large, framed photograph of the team in a pregame huddle. In the center of the huddle is one player. It’s not MVP Derrick Rose. It’s not Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeau. It’s not Bulls legend Michael Jordan.
The first person you see is Joakim Noah doing what he does best: clapping, encouraging, looking half-crazy, battle-crying, fueling his team and his arena with enough energy to turn a cold Chicago night red hot. “He’s awesome,” said Noah’s frontcourt mate, Carlos Boozer. “His energy has been great. He’s so emotional it’s phenomenal. Floridians are familiar with Noah and his impact on a team. It was Noah, the former Florida Gator, who turned down being the NBA’s potential No.1 overall draft pick his sophomore year to return to school and pursue a second national championship. Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green followed their leader, and UF won back-to-back national titles.

“That’s what’s made the whole year, is his engine,” Boozer said of the Bulls center. “A seven-foot guy with an engine like that? You don’t get seven-foot guys like that with his engine. It makes our team special.” Noah was his normal, special self Sunday in the first round of the Eastern Conference finals, a 21-point victory for the home team. That is to say, Noah was a man possessed. His eight offensive rebounds were two more than the Heat’s entire team. The difference in Sunday’s game was second-chance points: 31 for the Bulls; eight for the Heat. In other words, the difference was Noah.

Finding a way to beat Noah and the Bulls at their own game will be one of the Heat’s most important and difficult challenges in Game  2 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday and the best-of-7 series as a whole. Physically, the Heat does not have the frontcourt to match Noah’s mix of length, defensive versatility and athleticism. But that’s only half of Noah’s game. Sheer will is the other half. “You have to exceed it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Noah’s energy. “We’re not a slow-footed, spectator team. We’re an athletic team, a high-energy team, an effort team and we did not show it [Sunday]. “[Noah’s] effort exceeded ours on many occasions and it impacted the game. And that’s what this series is about endurance, mental and physical endurance. Who can sustain their game more consistently?” Like the Bulls, the Heat is built on energy, defense and rebounding. It showed in the first half on Sunday. The Heat forced Rose into committing four turnovers in the game’s first two quarters, and Miami went into the locker room with the score tied at 48. At halftime, the Bulls had only outrebounded the Heat by two. At the end of the game, the Bulls had 45 rebounds to the Heat’s 33. Led by Noah, Boozer, forward Luol Deng and reserve forward Taj Gibson, the Bulls outrebounded the Heat 13-8 in the third quarter, and despite shooting just 33.3 percent, outscored the Heat 24-15. How did it happen? Led by Noah, the Bulls had six offensive rebounds and the Heat had none. In one 11-second span with less than eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Bulls used two offensive rebounds to attempt three three-pointers. The third attempt went down, a 25-footer from Rose to give the Bulls a 60-58 lead. They never trailed again.

“If you look at some of the threes we hit, it really was from our offensive rebounding and the ball coming back out,” said Deng, who was 4 of 6 from three-point range. In all the Bulls, were 10 of 21 from that distance.
To Noah, it’s a very simple concept.

“We understand that winning the rebounding battle is important to winning basketball games,” he said.