Joakim Noah Is Lucky He's Only Been a Bull for One Season

Over my four-day weekend I heard what was probably the most shocking news of my entire life. Joakim Noah was busted in Gainesville, Florida for walking around with a cup full of cognac, and he had a joint hidden inside a pack of cigarettes in his pocket.

I just couldn't believe it. Joakim Noah smokes cigarettes!? How can anybody in the NBA get up and down the court if they have a smoking habit? I smoke, and when I'm playing basketball with my friends, I'm usually pretty winded after five trips up and down the court. Luckily for me, as my friends and I get older, I find I'm not the only one walking up the court most of the time.

What didn't shock me was the fact that Joakim had a joint on him. I mean, anyone who has ever heard Noah speak or saw the way he dressed at the NBA draft knew that guy enjoys a toke from time to time. The idea of an NBA player getting high doesn't really surprise anybody.

Of course, another thing that hasn't surprised me is the reaction that this story has gotten in the Chicago media. I'm kind of confused here, where is all the outrage? Jay Mariotti wrote a column about it today, but the bulk of it is centered around the NBA's marijuana problem as a whole (including a bit where Jay admits he dabbled in the demon weed as a young man), and not on Noah.

Where's the column demanding that the Bulls release Noah right now, as he is dragging the team down with his constant marijuana abuse and immature behavior?

I seem to remember seeing a lot of columns written by a lot of different Chicago columnists the last few weeks telling me that Cedric Benson needs to be released twenty minutes ago.

Let's compare what the two players did. Benson was on a boat with family and friends having a good time on Lake Travis. The same Lake Travis where there are constantly people out on their boats drinking with family and friends having a good time. Benson was accused of being drunk and disorderly with the cops, and got pepper sprayed. Cedric says he was 100% cooperative, and that the cops were the ones who were wrong. So far Benson has had a few witnesses come forward and support his claims. Not to mention that the police have audio of what actually happened out there that day, but for some reason, they don't want to release the tape.

Joakim was walking down the street with a cup of cognac and a joint in his pocket.

Both are exactly the type of thing you'd expect a college kid to get busted doing, and whether or not Cedric is telling the truth, neither arrest is really that big of a deal. A sign of stupidity or immaturity on Joakim's part, sure, but nothing major.

Yet after the Benson story broke, there were all those columns about how the Bears need to just cut their losses and move on from the Cedric Benson Era. Aside from Mariotti's column, I haven't seen anything remotely close being written about Noah, even though he's had just as many run ins with coaches and teammates in his lone season as a Chicago Bull as Cedric's had his first few seasons with the Bears.

I guess the lesson here is it's okay to break the law and act immature, just as long as you haven't been labeled a bust yet.