Al Horford and Joakim Noah wanted to soak in the glory.
Horford, Noah, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green -- the foursome who arrived together at Florida as freshmen and led the Gators to two consecutive national titles -- had just returned to Gainesville after the second championship, won at the Georgia Dome in 2007. They piled into Green's Chevy Impala for an impromptu victory parade.
One small problem. No one seemed to notice the four oversized young men rolling through campus.
"It wasn't always like that, trust me," said Noah, laughing at the memory. "We just wanted to go back to school and get some love, and everybody was too busy for us."
On Wednesday night at Philips Arena, they'll pay a little closer attention. Horford and Noah, two of the NBA's top young centers, will resume a feverish competition that began seven years ago on Florida's practice courts, Horford for the Hawks and Noah for the visiting Chicago Bulls. Wednesday's game is the first of three regular-season games between the two, with a second game next week in Chicago.
In their seven head-to-head career meetings, Horford has the edge statistically and has also won four times. This season, the two friends who bonded at Florida over shared interests in music, the outdoors and winning and whose careers have followed similar arcs -- getting drafted high in 2007, becoming integral pieces of developing teams, signing contract extensions last fall -- could meet for the first time in the postseason.
"You think about scenarios like that," Horford said.
While he has missed 30 games with thumb surgery, Noah has averaged a double-double (13.5 points, 11.9 rebounds) for the second consecutive season. Horford averages 16.0 points and 9.8 rebounds and played in his second All-Star game in February.
While Noah draws attention for his fire and Horford plays with professional reserve, they both are strong defenders and aggressive rebounders. Traits that have endeared Horford to Hawks fans -- consistent effort and competitiveness -- have similarly helped Noah win over Chicagoans.
"The one thing I admired about both of them is they have an incredible passion to get better and to be great," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "They really want to be special, not only individually, but they want to win."
Three years after they were drafted -- Horford at No. 3 by the Hawks, Noah six picks later by Chicago -- only five teams saw fit to extend players selected in that class. The Hawks and Bulls were two of them. Within weeks of each other last fall, Horford and Noah signed similar five-year, $60 million extensions.
They were rewards for skill and drive honed in practices at Florida. Horford and Noah -- along with Brewer and Green -- went after each other in games of one-on-one.
"We used to get at it," Horford said. "It used to get real physical and competitive because nobody would want to lose."
The competition hasn't abated at all in the NBA. Horford and Noah say they don't talk to each other when they're playing. Noah said that any interest in on-court antics is superseded by the fact that "we're both very competitive guys. We want to win more than anything."
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