Twelve years after going head-to-head in the NCAA Championship, Mike Conley and Joakim Noah have found success as Memphis Grizzlies teammates.
Prior to being drafted into the NBA in 2007, Mike Conley and Joakim Noah faced off in a heated NCAA Championship battle. Today, as members of the Memphis Grizzlies, they have individually produced strong 2018-19 seasons to catch the eyes of opposing NBA teams.
As a new champion has been crowned in the NCAA ranks on Monday evening, this time of year generates many flashbacks to the best March Madness highlights the sports world has seen. Located at the top of the best champs in recent history, you will find the Florida Gators.
Florida is the last program to win back-to-back NCAA men’s championships in basketball, which took place in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 collegiate seasons. A slew of those victorious Gators would go on to play in the NBA. Most of those guys would carve out lengthy careers on the big stage, too. A few of them remain in the league today.
The biggest star of those Florida Gators teams was Joakim Noah. The passion he had for the game prior to entering the NBA was something you could not teach. It was a true love. It was infectious. He pushed his teammates and made them better along the way.
In a hard-fought battle versus the Ohio State Buckeyes on April 2nd, 2007, Florida prevailed by a final score of 84-75. This particular Buckeyes squad contained a handful of eventual NBA talents, most notable were the likes of Greg Oden and Mike Conley.
This NCAA Championship game would go all the way to the very end, and Joakim Noah & company were too much for Mike Conley & Ohio State. However, as the NBA Draft came and went, Conley and Oden were selected above the slate of Gators prospects.
Some things in life are rather crazy. Life is unpredictable for the most part. Plus, it is a small world that we live in. After 12 highlight-filled years as professional basketball players, Mike Conley and Joakim Noah are teammates. After perhaps hating each other during the 2007 NCAA Championship game, they have demonstrated friendship and acceptance this NBA season.
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Some aspects of this pair’s respective skill sets have remained constants in the NBA. This include’s Noah’s passion, emotion, and infectiousness. He continues to lift others around him via these avenues. For Conley, he is still the floor general that remains under control regardless of circumstance. Yet, he is still the underdog that sometimes goes unnoticed in conversations involving champions.
Additionally, both Mike Conley and Joakim Noah have shown tremendous development over the years. They both have earned NBA awards of various types. The tandem has found some of their best success in important playoff moments. As both players are well into their 30s, Mike and Joakim are still proving to be valuable counterparts in the NBA, though placed within differing roles.
While watching the Virginia Cavaliers and Texas Tech Red Raiders on Monday evening, fans of the Memphis Grizzlies have to wonder — especially if the Grizz wind up retaining their 2019 first-rounder NBA Draft pick — if this could be a second-coming of Conley and Noah.
Two intriguing prospects are Virginia’s De’Andre Hunter and Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver. One of these guys could be a member of the Grizzlies’ roster in a matter of a couple months via the Draft. Plus, given life’s unpredictable course, the two guys could join forces on down the road. Enemies today. NBA teammates tomorrow.
Considering the Memphis Grizzlies’ rebuilding phase and their sudden interest in youth development, this could certainly be the case. It may not take 12 years either.
The 2007 NCAA Championship game is proof that it should be a safe bet for Memphis to bank on Hunter and/or Culver should they own a first-round pick on June’s Draft Night. After all, Mike Conley and Joakim Noah are proof that selecting prospects from the championship game are smart and safe selections.