I know what you’re thinking because I thought it too. But I regret to inform you that the man in the picture is not an older version of Joakim Noah on an epic but perilous journey through time to stop some dreadful post-apocalyptic future in which mankind is ruled by Bat Boy. (And no, the not-Future Noah isn’t using that little kid as a human shield against Bat Boy’s hunter-killer cyborgs. As far as you know.)

The man of mystery is actually Joakim’s father, Yannick Noah, a pop-soul singer and former professional tennis player from France. According to Yannick’s Wikipedia entry: “He is best remembered for winning the men’s singles title at the French Open in 1983, and as a highly-successful captain of France’s Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams.” Which I take to mean “He is barely remembered at all.”

Anyway, rather than appearing in a blast of light to provide Joakim with some dark glimpse of a tomorrow that may never happen, Yannick was simply at the game to watch his son play basketball. But Yannick’s visit to Madison Square Garden was good for more than just a cheap laugh about our horrible days to come. It was good for a fascinating anecdote too. According to Steve Smith of The Chicago Bulls Blog: “Yannick had told the New York broadcasters an interesting story I hadn’t heard before about Joakim, that he ended up shooting that odd sideways rotation shot because when he was small, he insisted on only shooting threes. I knew the three would eventually ruin young basketball players. But young Joakim couldn’t reach the rim. So he put both hands around the ball and spun it up. And never stopped.”

Well, that certainly explains a lot…

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