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Knicks' Noah: 'I tried to take something to help me and it backfired'

Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports / Action Images

Joakim Noah faced media Tuesday for the first time since the NBA imposed a 20-game suspension on him for the use of a banned substance, and the New York Knicks center was contrite with his season now over.

"I made a mistake," Noah told reporters after Knicks practice. "It was a tough year for me and this team ... I let a lot of people down."

Noah tested positive for Selective Androgen Receptor Modulator LGD-4033, a legal but banned-by-the-NBA supplement that mimics the effects of anabolic steroids despite being non-steroidal.

The 32-year-old, who has missed 96 games over the last three seasons due to various injuries, is currently on the shelf following left knee surgery. Noah casts as a sympathetic character in that regard, and said Tuesday that he was merely trying to expedite his rehabilitation.

"I tried to take a supplement to help me," he said. "I've gone through a lot of injuries. I tried to take something to help me and it backfired. It didn't come from a bad place."

Under NBA rules, Noah cannot begin serving the suspension until he is medically cleared to play. That could come as early as Wednesday's game against the Miami Heat. If that were the case, Noah would be suspended for the final eight games of this season and the first 12 of next.

"Twenty games is severe," Noah said, "But it is what it is and I gotta bounce back."

Noah averaged five points, 8.7 rebounds, and a career-low 0.8 blocks this season after the Knicks signed him to a four-year, $72-million contract last summer.

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