NOAH For MVP: Making The Case For Joakim Noah as Most Valuable Player

As the heart and soul of the Chicago Bulls defense, emotional leader, and as this up-and-down season has unfolded, the outspoken vocal leader of the Bulls, Joakim Noah has, in the minds of real basketball fans, made the case that he is the most valuable player for his team.

Joakim Noah has been leading his team to the upper half of the playoff seeding and putting up numbers for Chicago that put him in very select company.

While pseudo fans and bandwagon Miami Heat fans will continue to tweet about Lebron James as if they knew the first thing about basketball, Lebron can hardly be considered an MVP this season with the other players around him and his team only second in a weak Eastern Conference.

Durant is by far the frontrunner for his incredible efforts this season. Durant leads the NBA in scoring by 4 points a game. He is currently on a streak of 34 straight games of scoring 25 or more points. And he has his team vying for the best record in the NBA and strong Western Conference despite missing running mate Russell Westbrook for the beginning of the season.

And without taking anything away from Durant, the case can be made that Joakim Noah is as essential to the Chicago Bulls being in a position to take the 3rd seed from the Toronto Raptors in a season where leading scorer and former All-Star Luol Deng was traded for cap flexability.

The Deng trade seemed to signal that the Bulls were going into rebuilding mode, but Head Coach Tom Thibodeau and Joakim Noah were adamant that "tanking" was not in the identity of this team. Noah proceeded to lead Chicago, vocally and emotionally, on a run into the playoffs and into the 4th seed in the East despite losing Deng. During the Bulls' run, Noah had a series of incredible performances running the offense, and he put up three triple-doubles in four games.

Joakim Noah's impact on the game was finally recognized on a national stage as he played all the crunch time minutes for the Eastern Conference All-Stars, powering them to the win with his defensive energy.

Joakim Noah's effect on the game became public at the 2014 NBA All-Star Game, and may even include recruiting Carmelo Anthony to Chicago.

Since the All Star break, Noah has been averaging a gaudy 13.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game (up from 11.9 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game before the break). The only other centers to post such averages have been Vlade Divac and former league MVP, David Robinson.

As the very definition of a team player, Noah refuses to discuss the MVP talk, saying that Derrick Rose is the Chicago Bulls MVP. He doesn't even like the MVP chants that greet him in the United Center. However, if Joakim Noah continues to go Beast-mode on the league, he will most certainly climb up MVP list in the eyes of observant NBA MVP voters.

Do you think Joakim Noah deserves the MVP accolades? Where does he stand on your MVP list? Tell us in the comments below!