Joakim Noah was sent home by the New York Knicks last Jan. 24 when he and Jeff Hornacek had an altercation at a Denver hotel.

Hornacek escalated the situation by shoving Noah.

“I got kicked off the team,” said Noah. “Obviously, you know the situation. It’s unfortunate.”

Noah calls the period a “dark time” in his life and accepting responsibility for “failing on the stage where I wanted to do well on.”

Two sources say the incident was related to Noah playing just four minutes in the previous night's loss by the Knicks to the Warriors.

“During my time in New York I had shoulder surgery on my left side before I signed my deal, then I had two surgeries that year,” Noah says. “And then I had the drug suspension. So I dealt with a lot of (crap). I had a lot of (crap) going on. It was not easy. I think these are all life lessons. It was a tough time for me mentally. Failing like that on a stage I really wanted to do well on. I take responsibility. It took me a while to digest that.”