Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah finally addressed reporters on Saturday regarding the trade of his good friend Luol Deng to the Cleveland Cavaliers, several days after he maintained a media silence on the deal.
"The trade definitely hurt," Noah said as reported by ESPN.com. "But we got to move on. I feel confident in this team, we're working really hard. A lot of people say this is a business and all that but this game is more than a business to me. I put everything I got into this. I feel like Lu was the same way so it was hard for me to digest. But that's just my perspective, that's just my side of the story. Everybody has a different job. I'm not mad at anybody. I'm not mad at the organization or anything like that. It's just that my brother isn't here anymore. So I just needed a little bit of time to digest that."
The emotional center said he talked to Bulls GM Gar Forman and EVP John Paxson, who both assured him the team is not tanking this season.
Despite losing former MVP Derrick Rose and Deng, Noah said he is proud that the team has remained competitive enough to stay in the hunt for a playoff berth.
"I'm proud of that," Noah said. "I'm proud of that. This team, we've been dealing with a lot of adversity over the years. But people know when they come and play Chicago, no matter if there's four guys on the court, we're going to go out there and we're going to go hard. We're going to give it everything we have. And I think that's something that people are proud of when you say, 'Chicago Bulls.' Whatever it is, you know you're in for a fight. I'm proud to be a part of that. It's always going to be like that."
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