Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf believes Joakim Noah is no longer a “frontline guy”

Chicago Bulls owner was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame last weekend, a reward for his having a lot of money and being around when Michael Jordan was drafted.

During his epic celebration of himself, Reinsdorf had some interesting words for another famous former Bull, Joakim Noah.

Reinsdorf’s words, from the Chicago Tribune:

“What we felt was it was time. We felt Joakim wasn’t going to be a frontline guy anymore. I was pretty confident that Pau (Gasol) was going to leave. So it was important for us to get the center in (Robin) Lopez.”

Cool story, bruh. The Bulls’ front office is not known for their tact, but the owner was especially rough on a player who had given the franchise a great deal over the years. He could have simply said, “We decided to move on,” but chose to discredit Noah’s ability to be a quality player moving forward.

Now, I’m not Joakim Noah, but simply as a Knicks fan this comment is cutting. How many over-the-hill name free agents has this franchise signed or traded for over the years? How many times have we suspected rival GMs and owners of laughing on the inside at the MSG nincompoops even as they politely wished their former stars the best of luck in New York? Reinsdorf doesn’t even have the decency to hide his suspicion that Noah is finished as an elite contributor.

So don’t feel bad, Joakim. The outside world — even those once close to you — no longer believe in your abilities. We here in New York have been in this situation many times before. We’ll be rooting for you to shove Reinsdorf’s comments right up his pasty, baseball-preferring butt.