Joakim Noah Defensive Player of the Year. Noah was born in New York City, to French singer and former world No. 3 tennis player Yannick Noah, winner of the French Open in 1983, and Cécilia Rodhe, Miss Sweden and fourth runner-up at Miss Universe 1978. His grandfather Zacharie Noah was a Cameroonian professional football player, winner of the Coupe de France in 1961. Noah lived in Paris, France from 1988 to 1998 and returned to New York City at age 13. He played high school basketball for the United Nations International School, Poly Prep Country Day School and Lawrenceville School. Considered a
Yannick Noah a career as a popular singer, performing throughout Europe. He began his music career in 1991 with the album "Black or What", featuring the popular track "Saga Africa", which he made the stadium sing with his players after the famous Davis Cup final win. In 1993, he released the album "Urban Tribu" with the single "Get on Back", followed by the album "Zam Zam" in 1998. With the encouragement of his manager Jean-Pierre Weiller, his musical career got a great boost in 2000 with his self-titled 4th album "Yannick Noah", written by Erick Benzi and Robert Goldman. The single "Simon