Chicago Bulls: Tom Thibodeau has the Bulls number since he left Chicago

The Chicago Bulls saw the end of an era come in 2015 when they decided to part ways with head coach Tom Thibodeau. It was the end of a five-year relationship that had some incredible highs and consisted of a playoff appearance every single season.

The front office and head coach were not on the same page, though. Thibs was relieved of his duties coming off a 50 win season. It would have been shocking if rumors weren’t abundant for a while that the partnership was beginning to sour.

Thibodeau won 64.7 percent of his games as the Bulls head coach. While some of that came with loaded rosters, a lot of it also came with broken-down teams that were dealing with significant injuries. Thibs was clearly an incredible head coach but the team decided to part ways with him in a move that seemed needed for everyone involved at the time.

After taking a season off from head coaching responsibilities, Thibs took over the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2016. In addition to his head coaching role, he ran things for Minnesota from the front office perspective. He at least had the final say there in all roster decisions.

That may be why he didn’t have the success he has proven capable of. Even though his Timberwolves teams struggled they always had the Bulls number under Thibodeau.

Chicago Bulls: 2-6 against Tom Thibodeau Coached Teams Since Firing Him

• Bulls vs Thibs Timberwolves: 1-5
• Bulls vs Thibs Knicks (So far): 1-1

Over the course of three seasons, Thibs lost just one game against his former employer with the T-Wolves. Being in two separate conferences, the teams played each other twice per season in each of the three years.

Thibs very well might get an extra boost from playing the team that fired him. There is evidence that supports that statement, though how long that extra motivation would last is fair to wonder. He knows more than anyone what the situation was like behind closed doors and was most likely relieved when the two sides parted ways.

Still, he does have the Bulls number so far since the relationship ended. Not only is Thibodeau 6-2 against the Chicago Bulls, but his teams are holding them to 100.5 points per game. The league-worst for points per game this season is 104 points per game.

Maybe this is just a case of Thibs being Thibs. He is one of the elite defensive coaches in the NBA, but it will always be interesting to track how he does against his former team that he had so much early success with.