Noah struggled with injury during playoff series against Wizards.
The Chicago Bulls have revealed that center Joakim Noah had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on Friday, but deemed it to be a “minor” procedure performed by team physician Dr. Brian Cole.
The 29-year-old is expected to undergo a rehabilitation process for the next 8-12 weeks in order to recover from the injury, although it is unclear as to when he initially suffered the knock.
While he was noticeably limping during Game 5 against the Washington Wizards, he admitted after the game that he had been dealing with the knee injury for a while.
It didn’t limit him significantly during the regular season where he was an influential part of securing the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference for the Bulls, and on an individual level he was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year award.
In addition, Noah enjoyed one of the most productive seasons of his professional career after increasing his averages in points and assists, as he became an integral part of the Bulls system in the absence of point guard Derrick Rose and the traded Luol Deng.
However, he was unable to play at his usual level during the disappointing opening round playoff series defeat to Washington, which was a sour way to finish what had been an impressive season for Tom Thibodeau’s men.
The Bulls clearly felt no need to wait around to have the procedure and hope that Noah will return healthy for training camp ahead of next season where they will likely have Rose back in the fold and a free-agent or two along with their draft picks.
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