Noah praises Davis ahead of homecoming: 'He's a freak'

As a seasoned big man in the NBA, Joakim Noah of the Chicago Bulls sees past Anthony Davis's stats and recognizes a special talent.

"He's a freak," Noah said Saturday, hours before the Bulls host the New Orleans Pelicans, as reported by ESPN's Nick Friedell. "He affects the games in a lot of ways. Even though his stats are crazy, there's a lot of things that he does that you don't even see on a stat sheet that affect the game. He's a hell of a talent."

Saturday marks the first time Davis will play the Bulls in his hometown of Chicago. He missed those road games the past two seasons due to injury. 

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau added that Davis's early years as a guard - before growing eight inches in high school -  continue to help him. 

"You can see he has great vision," Thibodeau said. "Growing up he was a guard and that's probably benefited him. Now he's putting it all together and defensively he's as good as it gets."