Chicago Bulls Head Coach Tom Thibodeau Needs Out

After the Chicago Bulls roared into Cleveland for a series-opening win in their series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski wrote a column on Tom Thibodeau’s future in the Windy City.

There’s no denying that Adrian Wojnarowski is the best NBA insider in the game today.

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Now, most Bulls fans know that Tom Thibodeau and Bulls management haven’t seen eye-to-eye since his arrival five years ago, but the volume of Thibodeau’s demise is getting louder.

The big trend of Wojnarowski’s column was explaining the turmoil that seemingly began when Derrick Rose tore his ACL during Game 1 of the Bulls’ 2012 first-round series with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Rose’s injury history is well-documented, but the league’s youngest MVP never “sold out Thibodeau” according to Wojnarowski.

"When management has tried sidling to Rose, he’s never sold out Thibodeau. When people have tried to blame Thibodeau for playing a part in Rose’s rash of injuries, Rose has never blinked. In a lot of ways, the Bulls-Thibodeau partnership survived because of Rose. Even now, his stature won’t stop the inevitable parting this spring.And when everyone else in Chicago wanted Rose back on the floor sooner than later with those knee injuries, Thibodeau never wavered with him. When someone in the organization leaked that the team doctor had cleared Rose to return, make no mistake: Rose knew it wasn’t his coach."

The Rose-Thibodeau part of the column basically confirmed what most knew already: The Bulls didn’t fire Thibodeau sooner because the face of the franchise wouldn’t allow it.

Rose has his head coach to thank for the ascension of his career (and vice-versa) during their first year together in 2010-11, when the Bulls advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since Michael Jordan retired for the second time.

Their relationship kept the organization together, and even led to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski bringing Thibodeau onto the Team USA staff during Rose’s return to action this past summer in the FIBA World Championships.

When Yahoo asked Thibs about his superstar point guard, Thibodeau told Yahoo Sports,

"“I don’t know of a guy who has gone through what he’s gone through. You’re 22 years old. You’re the MVP of the league. And it’s been smooth sailing. One year in college, the championship game. Rookie of the Year. Conference finals. League MVP. And from the point he got that MVP until now, it’s been all adversity. He’s had to navigate through that. One year of rehab, that’s a test of your will. But to do it three years? That’s a tough deal. And he’s still working at it.”"

The biggest point Wojnarowski made with the Rose-Thibodeau argument is when he mentioned that Rose and Thibodeau evolved in tough times, but management didn’t. It created a more “embittered, toxic” environment.

As for the strangest — and the most WTF? part — of Woj’s column was when he mentioned a visiting scout having an exchange with an assitant coach “within the past year or so”.

Woj wrote,

"When a visiting scout visited the Bulls practice facility in the past year or so, he had the opportunity to watch the awkward, strange interplay between Bulls general manager Gar Forman and Thibodeau. Eventually, the man walked into the office of an assistant coach and asked: “What the hell is the deal here?”Before answering, the coach turned his fan on full blast. For the visitor, everything was becoming even stranger. He gave the assistant a befuddled look, as though to say, “What are you doing?”“I’m not taking any chances,” the coach said, refusing to risk the possibility of those walls being bugged."

Yeah, nothing to see. Move along.

Bugging a coach’s office? You can’t be serious.

But, with the tumultuous issues management has had with Thibodeau over time, would any of this shock anyone?

There’s no denying that Tom Thibodeau’s future is away from the city of Chicago. It’s definitely a shame for the city and the organization, who finally made a questionable, yet home-run hire after making fans sit through the Scott Skiles/Vinny Del Negro years.

With Thibodeau at the helm, the Bulls have won no less than 45 games in his five seasons on the sideline and made the playoffs every year.

It’s an even bigger shame that for the first time since his rookie season, Thibs has his whole cast of characters together for a deep playoff run, and he’s most likely losing his job, title or no title.

Next: Depth makes the difference in Game 1 for the Bulls

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Tom Thibodeau, Sadly, Needs Out of Chicago

By Michael Whitlow | May 5, 2015

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