CHICAGO — Basketball has allowed former Chicago Bulls star Joakim Noah to travel the world and compete at the highest level while giving back. But it is his time in Chicago — and the connections he made in the city — that have most informed his charitable work in violence prevention.
Noah’s One City Basketball League hosted its third championship tournament Saturday at Wendell Phillips Academy High School, 244 E. Pershing Road. The league, composed of boys and young men ages 16-25, promotes violence prevention and conflict resolution. It also includes programs to develop life skills such as financial literacy and career readiness. Players are paid $50 per game.
With its third season in the books, the One City league has grown to be a promising model of community building and violence interruption, according to Noah’s collaborators and program participants.
“Something I’m really proud of with our program is we stopped dehumanizing these kids,” Noah told Block Club Chicago. “It’s [not] all about numbers and killings — no. These are kids with real stories and we got to stop turning our backs on what’s going on and talk about solutions.”
Cobe Williams, Joakim Noah and Artimmeo Williamson pose for a portrait in the Loop on Dec. 6, 2024. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
The son of Hall of Fame tennis player Yannick Noah, the younger Noah said his father’s charitable and social work efforts inspired him to be active in his community. Growing up between New York City and Paris, Noah said he dreamed of playing for the Bulls — and that dream came true when he was drafted by the Bulls in 2007. National depictions of violence in Chicago never deterred his excitement, he said.
Noah started giving back in his first season as a Bull, working with then-CPS CEO Arne Duncan to host back-to-school backpack giveaways, he said. His charitable arm, the Noah’s Ark Foundation, has been working on anti-violence and other efforts in Chicago since 2010.
In 2012, Noah’s interest in violence prevention was further sparked after watching “The Interrupters,” a PBS documentary that follows three outreach workers striving to stop violence in Englewood and other neighborhoods as part of the Chicago CeaseFire initiative (now known as Cure Violence Global).
A tweet promoting the documentary led Noah to connect with Cobe Williams, who was featured as one of the “violence interrupters” in the documentary and is currently the U.S. director of Cure Violence Global.
More than a decade of friendship later, the pair teamed up in 2023 to launch the One City Basketball League with the mission of bringing together youth from across the city to build relationships and decrease violence.
Joakim Noah, former Bulls player, poses for a portrait in the Loop on Dec. 6, 2024. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Uniting Chicago
One City has held three seasons since launching in summer 2023 and counts over 400 players. Twenty-eight Chicago-based violence prevention organizations, including the Institute For Nonviolence Chicago and Englewood First Responders, create teams that compete throughout the season.
Williams described basketball as the “hook” to pique players’ interest in the league. The community expertise of leaders such as Noah and Williams make them credible messengers on topics like conflict resolution, community engagement and financial literacy, Williams said.
Many players in the league play alongside others they previously viewed as enemies due to neighborhood or gang affiliation, Williams said. He recalled multiple instances of players resolving conflicts with others off the court because of each other’s participation in the league.
“The violence prevention piece is strong because now they don’t see each other as opposition,” Williams said. “We want to focus on changing mindsets, changing behavior so we don’t look at people as good and bad people.”
Artimmeo Williamson is a re-entry supervisor for those returning from incarceration into neighborhoods including Austin and West Garfield Park. He is also a coach with One City. His team is made up of young men whose cases he manages.
Williamson sees One City as galvanizing young people across the city despite Chicago’s historic segregation and building a bridge between South and West side neighborhoods.
Artimmeo Williamson, coach and re-entry supervisor, poses for a portrait in the Loop on Dec. 6, 2024. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Cobe Williams, director of National Programs for Cure Violence Global, poses for a portrait in the Loop on Dec. 6, 2024. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Through his work, Williamson regularly collaborated with Williams on violence prevention efforts. When he learned of Williams’ involvement with One City, he offered to help.
The skills taught through One City appear in practice for his players both on and off the court, Williamson said. Many of his players are navigating traumas from their upbringing, neighborhood and incarceration. One City provides professional support to help pinpoint triggers and understand the root of potential violence, he said.
Players respond differently now in high-intensity games when being fouled hard or when a referee’s call is missed, Williamson said.
Williams, a former gang member, said the reputation of the league’s programs has spread throughout Chicago’s gang and prison population. Last week, he received a call from an incarcerated West Side gang member praising the program’s impact, he said.
Messages like these are crucial to the mission of One City, helping to bring former gang members to gyms to speak with players on the importance of violence prevention and unity, he said.
“That’s what I love about One City. We meet people where they are,” Williams said.
West Side Team Crowned Champs
Team Together Chicago from the West Side plays Team Contexto from the South Side during the One City Basketball League championship at Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Bronzeville on Dec. 7, 2024. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
One City’s top four teams competed Saturday for the semifinals and championship games. Hundreds came throughout the day to watch the games, plus a three-point shot and dunk contests.
Noah, Williams and Williamson led events alongside league commissioner and former NBA champion Tony Allen, a Chicago native. Former Bull star and Englewood native Derrick Rose was also in attendance.
The championship game was a face-off between South Side team Context and the West Side’s Together Chicago.
Isaac McKay, a native of East Garfield Park, plays on Together Chicago and was on last year’s championship team. The Perspectives/IIT Math & Science Academy graduate said he would often see violence in his neighborhood while growing up. Streets divided by gang affiliation and ongoing violence created a sense of uncertainty for his community, he said.
One City’s presence on the West Side is underestimated, and the safe space provided by the programs offers a protective environment that lifts some of life’s added stress, McKay said. Looking after his brothers and doing whatever he can to help them do better strengthens community between him and other players, McKay said.
Terry McDonald, Josh Turner and Isaac McKay pose for a portrait during the One City Basketball League championship at Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Bronzeville on Dec. 7, 2024. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Joakim Noah, former Bulls player, talks as Team Together Chicago from the West Side plays Team Contexto from the South Side during the One City Basketball League championship at Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Bronzeville on Dec. 7, 2024. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago
Terry McDonald grew up in Tri-Taylor and has been involved with One City since the league’s first season. He said the league has taught him discipline while fostering community and fun. The Al Raby High School graduate said weekly games keep players active and prevent them from being at the wrong place at the wrong time.
For McDonald, the followers of the league motivate him to keep engaged.
“The support to come and believe in what we have is the biggest part,” he said.
McKay and McDonald competed hard against their South Side rivals, with the championship game going to overtime until the West Side’s Together Chicago claimed victory.
The West Side’s win and One City’s work come on top of several achievements in violence prevention across the city. Homicides and nonfatal shootings are down in the city for the third year in a row following pandemic-era spikes, according to the Tribune.
Noah is excited to continue the league and expand it to include a girls league, as well as create a cultural exchange program with the NBA’s Basketball Africa League.
“I’m really excited about adding a girls league to One City. They deserve the same opportunities,” Noah said. “We want to bring some of our participants with One City [to Africa] and be able to build with different cultures, but still talking about reconciliation. It’s still the same story.”
For more information on the One City Basketball League, visit its website.
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