The Bulls "fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Thursday" despite two years and roughly $9M remaining on his deal, with GM Gar Forman "citing a need for 'a culture of communication that builds a trust throughout this organization,'" according to Greenstein & Johnson of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Bulls Exec VP/Basketball Operations John Paxson said, "You have to have a situation where you are all pulling in the same direction. Once that stops, it’s very difficult to move forward.” Paxson and Forman in their decision "considered the team’s overall performance, exit interviews with players, Thibodeau’s reluctance to adhere to minutes restrictions and, perhaps most significantly, the coach’s personality, which turned off numerous facets of the organization." Bulls Chair Jerry Reinsdorf in a statement said, "There must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone's ideas and opinions. ... Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization. ... Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/29). In Chicago, K.C. Johnson in a front-page piece reports Thibodeau's relationship with management "had deteriorated to the point that he hadn't talked substantively to Paxson since January" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/29).
PARTING WAYS: In Chicago, Rick Telander writes this "wasn’t an amicable parting, but more of a nasty divorce, a kind of take-your-money and hit-the-bricks shove out the gym door" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/29). Also in Chicago, Rick Morrissey writes, "This is a sad day." A group of "very good basketball men couldn’t find a way to get along, and a franchise is the loser because of it." Thibodeau "is a great coach," and is "a better coach" than Paxson and Forman are in their positions. That is "not taking anything away from the two front-office people," but is a "recognition that the Bulls are letting go of one of the best pure basketball minds in the NBA." The "shame of Thursday’s firing is that it didn’t have to happen, not if clear-thinking, adult-acting adults had been involved" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/29). YAHOO SPORTS' Adrian Wojnarowski wrote for "all the issues that inspired" Bulls management to "carry out such a ferocious campaign to discredit Tom Thibodeau ... perhaps the most powerful had been jealousy." Those listening to Paxson and Forman "would tell you that Bulls management could never make peace with the praise heaped on Thibodeau for 60-victory seasons and deep playoff runs." To them, Thibodeau "represented a Chicago folk hero who needed to be leveled." If Thibodeau "had only the political savvy to publicly praise his bosses, maybe everyone could've been spared the years of needless acrimony and drama." When Paxson "didn't like the way" former coach Vinny Del Negro managed F Joakim Noah's minutes, he "charged into the coach's office and laid hands on him." This time, management "had to be far more calculating in crushing the coach's credibility and contributions, both inside and outside the facility" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/28).
EXIT INTERVIEW: SI.com's Chris Mannix wrote the move "was unsurprising, yet Bulls management -- immature, irrational and tone deaf on this issue to the end -- still managed to screw it up." The Bulls "laced up a pair worker boots and drop-kicked Thibodeau one last time on his way out the door." Reinsdorf "got around to thanking Thibodeau, sort of, but not before passive aggressively blaming the coach for a breakdown in communication with the front office" (SI.com, 5/28). NBA.com's Steve Aschburner wrote the "parting shots" from Reinsdorf in the team's statement "would set a human resources director's hair on fire." The way this was handled "fit a little too comfortably into the franchise's history" (NBA.com, 5/29). ESPN CHICAGO's Jon Greenberg wrote under the header, "Bulls Should Have Shown More Respect With Statement On Thibodeau" (ESPNCHICAGO.com, 5/28). CBSSPORTS.com's Ken Berger wrote Reinsdorf led Thibodeau "into the public square on Thursday and delivered a few more lashes and reprimands just to make his point." The relationships between Thibodeau and his superiors "were beyond repair." Berger: "Whose fault was it? Everybody's." Once Thibodeau "had been stripped of his lead defensive assistant, Ron Adams," he responded "with defiance." But the Bulls "were no less guilty of organizational arson" (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/28).
BEGINNING TO SEE A TREND? SPORTS ON EARTH's Alex Wong writes the firing "was not dependent on results." This was "about two sides not being able to get along, with one of those parties -- the Bulls -- having a long history of moving on from players and coaches for reasons other than their competence" (SPORTSONEARTH.com, 5/29). In Chicago, Barry Rozner writes this is "where we wish good riddance to the senseless soap opera" that was the Bulls-Thibodeau relationship. It "seems to be a constant problem in Chicago, Bulls coaches and management not getting along, and while the coaches change, management stays the same." Paxson "wants a great coach but he wants that coach to coach as Paxson would coach, which leads you to wonder why he just doesn't do it himself" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 5/29). ESPN CHICAGO's Greenberg wrote one thing "is for sure: The Bulls organization was tired of hearing Thibodeau get the lion's share of credit." This is an organization, from "staffers to players, that's ready for a change, and that's important" (ESPNCHICAGO.com, 5/28). In Chicago, Mike McGraw writes under the header, "Bulls Fire Thibodeau, But Are They Ready To Change The Culture?" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 5/29).
