We’ve had a years long argument with a college friend that Bruce Springsteen is overrated. Our friend gets so mad when we suggest Billy Joel is his equal, or possibly better (he’s not, but we like to rankle him when we can). Regardless, when you combine the title track of Bruce’s 1975 opus, Born to Run, with the amazing fast break highlights of Joakim Noah, you have the perfect melting pot of music and basketball excellence.
Here’s what Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of Noah before last night’s Bulls – Celtics game:
“How often do you have a guy that’s even mentioned as an MVP candidate that averages what he averages point-wise [he averages 12.4 PPG]? I think that tells you what Noah has meant to this team since [Derrick] Rose has been out and [Luol] Deng got traded. They haven’t skipped a beat.”
We couldn’t agree with Stevens more as Noah has augmented his already elite defense and rebounding by becoming one of the best passing big men today.
So how about some classic Bruce dubbed over Noah’s gangly jaunts up the court either leading the fast break or running the lane like an elongated wing player:
We also gotta give props to our college buddy, who recently showed us Bruce in ’75 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.
It’s pretty hard to call Bruce overrated after checking that footage out — even in jest. The same could be said for Noah, an actual MVP candidate for what he’s done with the Bulls this season.
What do you think?
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