Hoops Habit
Fansided

Chicago Bulls Fire Tom Thibodeau

By Phil Watson

May 12, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game five of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
May 12, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers in game five of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

After months of speculation, the other shoe dropped on Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who was fired Thursday after five seasons in the lead chair on the bench.

More from Chicago Bulls

The team issued a four-paragraph press release on its website and scheduled a news conference for Thursday afternoon.

There had long been reports of friction between Thibodeau and general manager Gar Forman, dating back to the non-renewal of assistant coach Ron Adams’ contract two years ago.

Sources told The Chicago Tribune that some players trashed Thibodeau during exit interviews. Given the growing animosity between the front office and the coach, it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to discern those sources were within the Bulls’ organization.

NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner earlier this month detailed a list of potential reasons for the falling out between Thibodeau and the front office.

Those reasons ranged from a battle for control of the roster to Thibodeau’s penchant for playing his starters more minutes than most coaches to the presumed tacit approval from Thibs for his former mentor, Jeff Van Gundy, to blast Bulls’ management to, of course, the Adams situation.

The Tribune also reported on Wednesday that the Bulls denied trying to force Thibodeau to add former Bulls coach Doug Collins as an assistant coach last summer.

Sources told the newspaper that the idea of joining the staff was Collins’ and that he approached Thibodeau. According to the report, Thibodeau did not disclose the conversations with Collins to the front office, which sources told The Tribune did not learn about Collins’ overture until several months later.

It is something of a surprise that the Bulls elected to have Thibodeau walk the plank. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf has historically been averse to paying coaches not to coach for him and Thibs still had two years remaining on his contract.

But it is also Reinsdorf’s management style that may have contributed to the rift.

Much as was the case in the summer of 1998, when Phil Jackson and the Bulls parted ways after nine seasons and six championships, Thibodeau and Chicago are at relationship’s end because Reinsdorf treats the front office personnel as trustees of the franchise, while the coach—much like the players—is just another hired hand.

The relationship between Thibodeau and team president John Paxson had also become ice cold. According to The Tribune, the two had not spoken since Paxson suggested the coach cancel an unplanned practice in January in favor of a team meeting.

The front office’s decisions to let free agents Omer Asik and Kyle Korver leave rankled the coach, according to reports, as did the perceived foot dragging before the club agreed to sign his contract extension.

Management’s imposition of minutes restrictions for Joakim Noah, Derrick Rose and Kirk Hinrich also reportedly was met with scorn from Thibodeau.

Thibodeau was the NBA Coach of the Year in his first season, 2010-11, after leading Chicago to a 62-20 record and the top seed in the Eastern Conference. But the Bulls, after winning Game 1, were run over by the Miami Heat in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals and never got back to that level for the rest of Thibodeau’s tenure.

The Bulls were No. 1 in the East again in 2011-12 with a 50-16 record in the lockout-shortened season, but the future of the Bulls and Thibodeau changed forever when Rose tore his ACL in Game 1 of a first-round series Chicago would eventually lose to the eighth-seeded Philadelphia 76ers.

Without Rose for the entire 2012-13 season, Chicago went 45-37 and surprised the Brooklyn Nets on the road in Game 7 of the first round before losing to Miami in five games in the second round.

Last year, Rose returned, but lasted just 10 games before tearing the meniscus in his other knee and missing the rest of the year. Chicago won 48 games but was upset by the Washington Wizards in the first round.

A 50-32 campaign this season ended with a second-round defeat at the hands of LeBron James once again, this time with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Thibodeau had a record of 255-139 in five seasons, with his .647 winning percentage currently sixth on the NBA’s all-time list.

But the Bulls were just 23-28 in the playoffs under the 57-year-old coach.

Reinsdorf danced around the rift in the press release.

“While the head of each department of the organization must be free to make final decisions regarding his department, there must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone’s ideas and opinions,” Reinsdorf said. “These internal discussions must not be considered an invasion of turf and must remain private.

Live Feed

Hall of Fame a real possibility for Bulls center Andre Drummond?
Hall of Fame a real possibility for Bulls center Andre Drummond? /

Pippen Ain't Easy

  • Ranking Michael Jordan's 11 most iconic commercials of all-timePippen Ain't Easy
  • These NBA stars might switch teams sooner rather than laterAll U Can Heat
  • 4 Bulls who deserved a higher ranking in B/R's NBA Top 100Pippen Ain't Easy
  • NBA rumors: Lakers eyeing Trae Young, Zach LaVine trade market, referee bias dataFanSided
  • Nikola Vucevic claims this is the Bulls' 'last chance'Pippen Ain't Easy

    • “Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization—staff, players, coaches, management and ownership. When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture.

    “To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required.”

    That was a lot of verbiage to declare that Thibodeau had become, in the view of the top levels of the organization, the turd in the proverbial punch bowl.

    Thibs will land on his feet—he immediately becomes a frontrunner for vacancies in New Orleans and Orlando, for instance, and there had been some speculation, reported by The Sporting News, that the Pelicans and Magic had appeared to center their search on candidates such as Alvin Gentry and Scott Skiles was a ploy to scare the Bulls into eating the remaining $9 million on Thibodeau’s contract.

    If that was the gambit by either or both organizations, it worked. Tom Thibodeau now moved to the front of the class among available coaches on the market.

    Next: Our Latest NBA Mock Draft

    More from Hoops Habit

    Home/Chicago Bulls