2014 NBA All Star Game: Joakim Noah is an All-Star, again

The announcement is officially later tonight on TNT, but reports are already leaking out:

Bulls center Joakim Noah will be an East All-Star reserve, source told Yahoo.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) January 30, 2014

The news was sorta inadvertently spoiled earlier this week by the Bulls, but it was also kind of expected given the Bulls position in the standings, the dearth of bigs in the East, and of course Noah's quality play.

Noah missed all of preseason with a groin injury and struggled to begin this season, but really rebounded in the wake of Derrick Rose's injury and the Luol Deng trade. Though the Bulls have seen their early-season aspirations destroyed, Noah has played some of the best ball in his career and re-solidified himself as the emotional leader of the team as he's kept them in the East playoff picture.

And as Bulls fans know, he's just the best. So it's great to see him rewarded and able to be a part of the league's biggest stage again. Noah joins 10 other former Bulls as a multiple All-Star game participant.