Jeffrey Epstein Appeared To Be A Big Joakim Noah Fan

The Tom Thibodeau–era Chicago Bulls were a special team, a rockpile collection of asskickers dedicated to playing a rapidly obsolescing style that nonetheless proved extremely effective. Thibs surrounded a young Derrick Rose with a bunch of incredible defenders, most notably avant-garde jump shooter and 2014 Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah, in an endearing attempt to win every game 70-57. It didn't quite work, but did earn the Bulls the respect of a nation. I loved those teams, as did the anti–LeBron James bloc, defense enthusiasts, and apparently, according to emails released by the Justice Department a few weeks ago, Jeffrey Epstein.

Unlike many NBA-affiliated people, whom we will get to shortly, Noah himself appears in the emails only as a subject, and only twice. The first time was in 2010, when Eva Dubin—Epstein's ex, friend of Ghislaine Maxwell, and wife of hedge-fund billionaire Glenn Dubin—sent a Real GM article (for the record, this is the only time a RealGM.com URL appears in the files) about Noah's 2010 contract extension to a bunch of people, including Epstein. One of them responded, "He better take care of momma!!"