Pippen Ain't Easy
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Will Chicago Bulls Management Ever Be Held Accountable?

By Michael Whitlow

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Tom Thibodeau is a “dead coach walking” at this point for the Chicago Bulls, but will the Gar Forman/John Paxson pairing ever be held accountable for their actions in issues?

Most would agree that Tom Thibodeau will not be the Chicago Bulls head coach for much longer.

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Thibodeau’s lack of postseason success in his five seasons as head coach, along with the Bulls being bit hard by the injury bug (possibly due to players playing too many minutes), will have Thibodeau looking for a new place to reside in the coming weeks.

However, Thibodeau’s stubbornness and unwillingness to expand his rotation isn’t the only issue for this Bulls soap opera.

It’s easy for the head coach to be the scapegoat, but what about the men upstairs who are actually running the show? Bulls general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson should have just as much blame in this situation as Thibodeau.

You know, the same John Paxson that got into a “physical altercation” with former Bulls head coach Vinny Del Negro after a game in March 2010. Also, the same John Paxson that fired former Bulls head coach Scott Skiles on Christmas Eve during the 2007-08 season.

Forman is no saint himself, clashing with Thibodeau on numerous occasions in the last five years about different matters with the roster, including the number of minutes previously injured players have played.

At this point, it’s not a matter of if Tom Thibodeau gets fired, it’s a matter of when Tom Thibodeau gets fired. The timing of letting Thibodeau go has become the focal point of this Forman/Paxson/Thibodeau drama show.

Forman and Paxson don’t want to pay Thibodeau the $9 million he’s owed for the final two seasons of his contract extension he signed back in 2012. Thibodeau isn’t generating the attention that once was thought to be there.

(Plus, one of the rumored suitors for Thibodeau’s services, the Orlando Magic, are planning on hiring a new coach this week. Coincidentally, it’s former Bulls coach Scott Skiles.)

There’s no faulting the Forman/Paxson duo for being “cheap” in this situation, but their pettiness towards Thibodeau may end up coming back to bite them in the end.

ESPN Chicago’s Nick Friedell logged a fantastic timeline of the Forman/Paxson/Thibodeau issues, and from the sound of things, the Bulls aren’t exactly eager to pull the trigger on Thibodeau’s tenure ending in Chicago and paying him his money.

With Orlando filling their coaching vacancy, and New Orleans showing some serious interest in Golden State assistant Alvin Gentry, the Bulls may be left out in the cold and searching for answers, thanks to their management duo running the best defensive coach in the game out of town.

Let’s say current Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg decides that he doesn’t want to jump to the NBA and Adrian Griffin, a current Bulls assistant and head coaching candidate, decides to bolt from Chicago, what are the Bulls going to do?

Plus, who would really want the pending Chicago job when your higher-ups have the checkered past of Forman and Paxson?

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