And now from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, the Act Spiles with your host, David Axelrod.

Your fan of Chicago Bulls, and you used to sing Joaquin Noah as kind of a modular energy unit for the entire team and a source of endless annoyance to the rest of the NBA.

And you love him for it. But if you live in the city, you also have to appreciate the effort that he's put in to try and deal with this horrendous problem of crime and violence in the community and kids who are badly in need of diversions and direction.

And Joaquin and conjunction with his mother have provided that with something called the Noah's Ark Foundation. And he's an endlessly interesting guy, the son of a black father, the tennis player, Yannick Noah, a white mother, a sculptor from Sweden, who grew up half in France, half in New York, and has an interesting cut on the world.

We had a chance to sit down the other day and kick it all around.

So Joaquin, you're welcome, first of all. Your father's a world-class athlete and performer, your mom's a sculptor.

You've actually lived a pretty privileged life on two continents, right, in France and in the US. But you spend a lot of time since you've been in Chicago and the inner city working with kids and trying to interdict on gangs. Why? Why were you drawn there?

I think for a few reasons. I mean, first of all, I think I was raised that way to give back. My father had a foundation when he was playing tennis and still does. And does a lot of great work in France, building tennis courts in the inner city for the kids and making sure that they have coaches and the importance of academics and all that is all part of his family.

I think I was raised in the foundation. This is something that I always wanted to do as a basketball player. And just growing up in New York City, I always raised in community centers.

And I know how important they are. And just coming here, I feel like it was just such a blessing to be here for such a blessing to be here for such a long time.

My mother decided to start a foundation. And the city had been so great to me. So many ways. I just thought that it was important to give back and try to help in some of the issues that are in the city.

When you were growing up in New York, you mentioned traveling around. You travel around to play ball. Did you run into kids who, you obviously ran into kids who had a completely different lifestyle?

Was that eye opening to you?

Yeah, no question.

I was around a coach who believed in me. Rest in peace, Mr. Green. And I would just...

Here's a guy who really took you under his wing.

He took me under his wing. And he worked at a P.A.L. a couple blocks away from my house. And I remember in the first summer I moved to New York, I was 12 years old.

I left with my family, with my mother, my sister. And we went back to France and traveled a little bit in the summer. And he said, look, if you want to be serious with this basketball thing, you have to stay with me.

And the next summer, I stayed with him all summer. And I was able to really go around the city and stay with him. And he worked in all these different community centers and a story of projects and queens.

And Bettsdye in Brooklyn. And I was able to feel and see poverty for the first time in my life. It was definitely different in the way I was raised.

And it was definitely eye opening. Academically, how far behind some of the kids were.

And I just knew from that point that if basketball was... If I was going to make it to the NBA, I was going to use my platform to bring awareness and to help in the best way I can.

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