Joakim Noah, a career shaped by Africa

Joakim Noah, son of former Franco-Cameroonian tennis player Yannick Noah, has admitted in a recent interview that his trips to Africa with his father did him a lot of good during his NBA career.

Although born in New York, the former Clippers centre regularly visited Cameroon, where his father spent a good part of his youth. Deeply attached to his roots, the 1983 Roland Garros winner took his son there to instil African values that have clearly left their mark on his life.

"Derrick Rose was always asking me how I managed to become who I am, given my roots. And I'd say it's both from watching the way my father trained, but also from going back to Africa," Joakim Noah explained on the podcast All The Smoke.

Joakim Noah and the blessing of his father, Yannick

"Every year, my father took me there and it let me step back from my life and tell myself, 'OK, I'm really lucky.' Simple things like hot water, air conditioning, wooden courts and indoor courts, high schools… Yo, we have everything we need, whereas when I went back to Africa and Cameroon, there was none of that. So it's the greatest blessing my father gave me," he added.

Read also: Yannick Noah in Rwanda: "In Africa, tennis is only just getting started"

Since 2017 and the death of his father, Yannick Noah has settled in Cameroon, where his fame as a champion still follows him. The former world No. 3 in tennis has been made village chief in Etoudi, in Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, a title his father held during his lifetime. Since 2023 he has also been president of Vent d'Etoudi, a football club playing in the second division.