Joakim Noah’s NBA Drug Policy Violation resulted in a 20-game suspension.
The NBA announced on March 25 that Joakim Noah, a centre for the New York Knicks, has been suspended for 20 games for violating the league’s anti-drug programme (via Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today). Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical broke the story first.
According to Ian Begley of ESPN on Wednesday, Noah’s ban will start right now because the NBA’s independent doctor has determined that he is physically able to play. According to reports, the 32-year-old tested positive for an over-the-counter substance that is prohibited by the collective bargaining agreement of the league.
Wojnarowski did note that Noah was found not to have violated the CBA “knowingly or willingly” by the National Basketball Players Association. Additionally, it is reported that he assisted the investigation completely.
However, Wojnarowski did point out that the National Basketball Players Association determined that Noah had not broken the CBA “knowingly or willingly”. It’s also said that he gave the investigation his full assistance. The Philadelphia Eagles have identified Brian Johnson’s replacement.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Kellen Moore, a former offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers and Dallas Cowboys, has been hired to take over as offensive coordinator for Philadelphia, replacing Johnson.
After the Eagles’ 32-9 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card round earlier this month, they dismissed defensive coordinator Sean Desai and quarterbacks coach Josh Johnson. Johnson joined the Eagles in 2021, although his tenure as offensive coordinator began in 2023.
The fact that Philadelphia was unable to overcome a late-season losing streak that saw them drop five of their last six regular-season games was partly due to the actions of both of the past coordinators for the team.
Even though the Eagles’ offence finished 2023 eighth in yards per game, seventh in points per game, and sixteenth in passing yards, they had only scored 25 points or more in two of their previous six games.
Furthermore, after making progress under former offensive coordinator Shane Steichen in 2022, quarterback Jalen Hurts regressed under Johnson. Hurts had voiced unhappiness that his “desired direction for the offence” had “not materialised” under Johnson, according to a story published earlier this month by ESPN’s Tim McManus.
Hurts will be Moore’s third prominent quarterback to deal with in his coaching tenure. He served as the offensive coordinator coach for the Cowboys from 2019 to 2022 with Dak Prescott and the Chargers from 2023 to 2023 with Justin Herbert. When the Cowboys lead the NFL in points and yards in 2021, the 35-year-old had his best season in Dallas.
The Bolts finished 21st in scoring during Moore’s 2023 campaign as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator; nonetheless, Moore took a lot of the criticism for this since former head coach Brandon Staley was also largely to blame. Vic Fangio, a former defensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, has been appointed by the Eagles as their next defensive coordinator, serving as Desai’s replacement. In 2022, Fangio was a consultant for the Birds.
