Joakim Noah Interview: France’s World Cup, Kylian Mbappé, NBA Greats & More

Earlier this week Hard Rock Bet had the chance to interview Joakim Noah, a two-time NBA All-Star, the 2014 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and one of the league’s most recognizable personalities. The son of French tennis legend Yannick Noah, Joakim has long been a passionate supporter of soccer and now co-hosts the Man On show alongside former United States Men’s National Team striker Jozy Altidore.

Noah shared his thoughts on France’s 2026 World Cup campaign, Kylian Mbappé’s move to Real Madrid, the similarities between soccer and basketball, his NBA Center Mount Rushmore, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s fit with the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks’ championship run, growing up as Yannick Noah’s son, and more.

You grew up in the PSG locker rooms, but we saw you with a Saint-Etienne top in Morocco? So who do you really support?

Saint-Étienne is not the club that I favor. For me, I was able to be an ambassador for Le Coq Sportif and wear them for half of my career. They were the sponsor for Saint-Étienne. So I was able to have this jersey that I love, the Saint-Étienne jersey. This is a team with a lot of French tradition. So I’m always proud to wear a Saint-Étienne jersey, but PSG was definitely my team.

France made a convincing start in the World Cup. Do you see them going all the way?

Note from the editor: this was recorded prior to France’s World Cup Semifinal defeat to Spain.

Yeah, I mean for me, France has been a convincing team in the last three World Cups. So this is a team that has the experience, and a team that understands what it takes to win. I remember in ’98 when I was a kid and watching France… France had never won before. So there’s a different mindset once you win because now it has the kids believing that they can win. And now they’re growing up knowing that their country are champions. They’ve seen their heroes lift up that trophy. And I think that that’s a completely different mentality and it’s a completely different mindset when you know that your country can do it.

What is one element of soccer, whether it’s the fan energy or style of play, that you wish the NBA could replicate? And vice-versa.

You know what—what I’m most proud of with the NBA is it’s really a global sport. Maybe not as much as football, but—and I think there’s just so much that we can learn from each other. More than the differences, to me it’s more how similar they are in terms of camaraderie, being able to understand what it takes after success. Having to wake up in the morning, the practice is the same. Whether you win at a high level or you lose at a high level, you still have to go to practice the next day. Whether you make it to the top professionally or not, these are values that I think help anybody, whether it’s football or basketball. These are values that help you in life.

Should Mbappé have stayed at PSG?

Honestly, I’m proud of Kylian, man. I’m proud of who he is. I think that leaving Paris, the club that… you know, he’s from Paris. He’s from the banlieue parisienne, so to me, I’ve had opportunities to spend time with him. I’ve been in Cameroon with him, where he does a lot of social work. He uses his platform to do unbelievable things for the next generation. I’m proud of the person he is.

But he’s also a guy that not a lot of people can relate to his superstardom, to the kind of platform that he has. He’s almost, in a way, bigger than the club sometimes. I think that his dream was always to go to Real Madrid. So I think that he is where he wants to be. I don’t think it’s anybody’s decision.

You know, Jozy, you hear it all the time, like “why didn’t you play for Haiti?” No, no, Jozy, it’s your decision. This is your life and this is your career. You’re the one who was busting your ass as a kid when nobody even thought it was possible. And you know what? You make decisions that fit for you. And you know, Kylian has every right to say “this is where I want to play.” And the criticism that he received because he left, I go back to Paris all the time. Obviously they left—he left. They won two Champions Leagues and the amount of criticism that he got was unbelievable. But I think that right now, the way that he is handling himself in this World Cup, it’s—it’s unbelievable how quick people change.

So I’m proud of this guy. Should he have left? You know, I don’t think that’s for me to say. It’s his career, it’s his life and he’s doing what he’s doing—he’s making his moves.

Goalkeepers are judged partly on how well they command the air. If you took a 6’6″+ NBA player with elite athleticism and a 40-inch vertical, how effective could they be in goal?

I think the question is—I think it’s deeper than that. I think it’s… just like you said, I think that when the goalkeepers that we were able to talk to on Man On, to me it—what was very interesting is I saw a lot of myself in the goalkeeper. As a center, you’re the one who’s closest to the basket, you’re the one who, you know, barks orders. Is a screen going left, screen going right? You’re the one who has to tell the person that where the screen is coming from. I think it’s very similar as a goalie because I always see the goalie like screaming at the defense.

So to me, I was just like “is this screaming or is this leadership?” And it’s leadership because it’s a completely different position. You’re the one who’s closest to the goal and you’re the one who sees the whole floor. And it’s very similar to the center position. So, very interesting. Very interesting to see, even though completely different sports, a lot of similarities as well.

If you could pick one current player or former teammate to play goalkeeper in a World Cup match, who would it be and why?

He wasn’t my teammate, but for me, I would probably say the Greek Freak. Giannis Antetokounmpo. You know, seven foot, you know, eight foot wingspan, athletic as hell. Now I think if he gets his reps in as a goalie, you know, we’ve never seen that kind of size, that kind of athleticism as a goalie before. Look, he chose basketball, but I think it would be interesting to see that kind of human as a goalkeeper.

Jozy Altidore chimes in:

I think that’d be wild. Instantly be one of the best goalkeepers I think. I mean when you talk about your best athletes playing sports, in particular basketball players playing goalkeeper, I think is a really compelling argument. Because of the hand-eye coordination and all that stuff. So I think that’s really interesting actually. You gave me something to think about.

What is your Mount Rushmore of NBA centers and who is the toughest name you have to leave off of that mountain?

Honestly, for me, I don’t like these kind of questions because it’s opinionated and you would never say that for when you go to a museum, you would never say “is Picasso better than Dalí?” You know, it’s not better. It’s not always better or who has more championships, it’s who resonated with you.

For me, the centers that I gravitated to as a kid were, you know, Patrick Ewing. Growing up in New York City and being able to watch Patrick Ewing play basketball, to me was unbelievable. Hakeem Olajuwon, you know, somebody who played soccer before basketball. Somebody whose footwork—we will never see that kind of footwork. And even the next generation when you look at Wemby, LeBron, Kobe, they all went to Hakeem to learn post moves because his footwork was just so fundamentally sound. So Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon.

The third one I would use is Dikembe Mutombo. Dikembe Mutombo, more than just basketball, somebody who I was able to work with when I invested in NBA Africa. Somebody I got to spend a lot of time with in Africa when we did this deal. Somebody who just cared about growing the game on the continent. So maybe not a top scorer, but defensively, I remember when I got my biggest award as a player was Defensive Player of the Year when he handed me that trophy, what it meant to me, Dikembe was somebody that it’s so much bigger than basketball.

At four, I would put Shaquille O’Neal. We have never seen anything like that. Just a center who, I was able to play against, he was playing for the Miami Heat at the time, you know, this was more towards the end of his career, thank God. Because I mean, just we’ve never seen a guy at that size, at that weight move the way that he moves. Somebody who, you know, it looked like his teammates loved him. You know, somebody who just cares about people. I love hearing him speak on TV. He’s just somebody who you can’t take away his charisma. So at four I would say Shaq.

And five, I’m going to go with somebody I never got to play against, but I would say Wemby. You know, Wemby needs to be talked about with the greats already. I think the pain of losing in this Finals against the Knicks, I think it’s going to be interesting how he rebounds from this, how he comes back. I think he came in, you know, he’s obviously going to be the face of the NBA. He’s the next guy up. But somebody whose talent is unmatched, the way he shoots the ball, the way he dribbles, the way he moves at his size, we’ve never seen that. But what I’m looking forward to is the pain of losing a Finals that they were so close to winning. It was Knicks in five, but let’s not forget there was a 27-point lead in the fourth quarter that they lost. They lost some games –  that experience plays such a major role. And, you know, the smiling Wemby that we saw last year, I don’t think we see this guy come in next year. I’m looking forward to seeing him like more in a villain role, a guy who has a chip on his shoulder. I’m really looking forward to seeing, you know, what the next five years look like for him. So I would say Wemby at five.

For a guy that’s not on that list that should be on this list is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. You know, Kareem, you know, obviously one of the greats. I got to spend a little time with him while I was playing, but, you know, somebody who his experience being able to even off the court, the—the yoga with—Bikram yoga that he was doing throughout his career, the lessons that I learned from him about, teaching your kids—his kids before they left the house had to take a martial art. And the importance of his relationship with Bruce Lee. You know, these are all things that as great as he was as one of the top scorers all time, to me it was more than that, it’s like what he represented to Black culture in America. He’s a historian. You know, so when you’re around these legends, being able to pick their brain and talk to them about their journey, I think, is always been the biggest lesson. So he is definitely somebody that I really admire.

Having played against him many times, how do you think Giannis will fit in the current Miami Heat team and culture?

Yeah, I mean I think this is a home run for the Miami Heat. They got a top player. They got a top player. You can’t replicate, you know, greatness and as great as he is, his will to win is going to be very interesting. You know, he’s in a place right now where it’s warm all year, the joints don’t hurt as much, this isn’t Milwaukee. So I think he’s really going to enjoy—you go to practice and you know you can also jump in the ocean right after. That’s a whole different thing. So, I think Miami Heat got their leader and it’s going to be really fun going to the Miami Heat games.

We remember your rookie game vs Shaq. How has your position changed in the NBA? Do you think we still get to see iconic duels nowadays?

Rookie year Shaq, I mean when I got onto the court I was in the game for one reason and that was to foul Shaq. I remember walking into the game and Ben Wallace was on the court and I was like “Yo, I got Shaq.” And everybody started laughing except for one person. And that was Shaq. And he goes—he looks at me right dead in my face, he said “Rook, if you foul me, watch your nose, I’m gonna fuck you up.”

So that was one of my like “welcome to the NBA” moments. And look, I understand his frustration, like he was so dominant that you were put into the game to foul him. And he wasn’t a great free throw shooter, that was probably the biggest hole in his game. And, yeah, it was definitely one of my “welcome to the” NBA moments.

Yeah, iconic duels, I think that, you know, when you look at Magic versus Bird, you know, when you’re talking about competition or superstars going against each other and they don’t like each other, I think it’s great for the game. You know, I love competition. Competition can be beautiful, but competition can also be really dark and it can be, you know, an engine to make you work that much harder to get to your goals. And when you have two guys going at it, I think it’s just a beautiful thing. So the buddy-buddy thing that competition has turned into sometimes, it’s frustrating to me because I like that dark side when guys are going at it. I think it makes the games that much more fun to watch.

As a former Knick, what was your reaction to seeing Jalen Brunson lift that trophy, and do you feel like this team finally restored its old-school identity?

It’s interesting. You know, Jalen Brunson’s – his father was my coach on the Bulls.

Yeah, and he used to be the guy who I was closest with. So I used to go watch Jalen Brunson play in Chicago when he was in eighth grade and if you would have told me that he would have been the guy to bring the trophy back to New York City, I would have told you you’re fucking crazy. But he did, man. And he did and he did because of the way that he handles himself, his composure under pressure when the lights are brightest. And even when he was lifting that trophy, you know, just his demeanor and the way he carries himself with humility. A little bit like Messi in that way, you know, it’s like no moment is too big, “I want the ball in the pressure—” and the stability that he brought.

New York City is a place with a history of point guards, but for him to represent that and lift up that trophy, I can’t think of anybody who deserves it more. Shout out to the Brunson family. I love everything about them and I couldn’t be more proud.

What is the best piece of advice your dad ever gave you about being a professional athlete?

I think more than advice, my blessing was being able to see my father do what he did as a professional athlete. More than telling me what to do, he showed me what to do.

I think the best thing that my father did was take me for a jog in the morning before school, when he was around. You know, before I could run, I used to take the bike and he was the one running. And then as I got older, he would take me and, you know, we would run three miles and then the last 400 yards were a full out sprint. So I had this relationship of like training in the red.

And that was the best thing that my dad ever did. When you’re comfortable in the uncomfortable, you know, I think that was something that my dad taught me.

Did your dad ever try to get you into tennis?

He never pushed me to anything. He was just more trying to see what I was passionate about. I think with tennis it was like the expectations were so high because of what he represented in France. I think I shied away from that right away as a kid, that’s not something that I wanted when people would say “Oh, you’re going to be the next Yannick,” and it was like, “Dude, I haven’t even touched a racket yet,” you know?

So it was always something that I shied away from – and I’m happy I did. You know, we left France because my dad was one of the most famous people in the country. And I think moving to New York at 12 years old allowed me to not just be Yannick Noah’s son, I was actually Joakim. And I think that I played the way that I played because I wanted to be my own man. I didn’t want to just be the son of anybody, I wanted to be Joakim Noah. And just respect me for who I am and not just because of who my father was or what he represented.

It’s been 40 years since your dad won the French Open and France is still waiting for its next Grand Slam champion. Why do you think French tennis has struggled to shine on the biggest stage in recent decades?

I don’t think that’s for me to answer. Obviously it’s a complicated answer. I think even before my father had won, before that it had been 40 years or 50 years before that one. And, you know, we talk about France, but, you know, he’s also the only African to ever win a Grand Slam. There’s a lot of reasons for it.

Pressure also busts pipes. Look, anything can happen. There’s a lot of young up-and-coming players who have a chance and we’ll always be supporting them. I know what it meant for my father. I wasn’t born when that happened. But, you know, we always look forward to seeing, a French player doing well in a tournament and the day will come.