Fansided

Bulls could wait until coaching vacancies fill to fire Thibodeau

By Cody Williams

Apr 30, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts to a call during the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks in game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 30, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau reacts to a call during the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks in game six of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports /
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Chicago Bulls could be doing Tom Thibodeau dirty regarding his job, potential firing.

Tom Thibodeau will almost surely not be the coach of the Chicago Bulls at the start of the 2015-16 NBA season. According to multiple reports over the past couple of months, the relationship between the organization and Thibodeau has soured to a point where it’s never going to be repaired.

Despite the sense of impending doom regarding Thibs’ job in Chicago, we may not have realized just how bad the relationship between the Bulls and Thibodeau actually is.

According to a recent report from ESPN’s Marc Stein, there’s a chance that the Bulls could hold off on firing Thibodeau until all of the coaching vacancies around the league have been filled. Reading between the lines, the Bulls could wait until Thibodeau won’t be able to be a head coach in the NBA next season before they actually pull the trigger on what seems to be an inevitable firing.

Sure, I’m not behind the scenes and working with the Bulls front office right now, but that seems like an incredibly underhanded move on the part of the Bulls. It’s one thing to end a coach’s employment, but it’s much different to do so with the outright intention of costing him other job opportunities.

The past couple of months between the Bulls and Thibodeau have essentially been the pettiest game of chicken that we’ve seen in the NBA in a while. Thibs has claimed time and again that he plans to coach the Bulls next season while the Bulls are looking for compensation if he were to take another job. It’s the passive-aggressive Olympics in Chicago’s front-office right now.

There are only three coaching vacancies left in the NBA right now, with the Orlando Magic and Denver Nuggets jobs looking closer to being given to other candidates besides Thibodeau than not. That really only leaves the New Orleans Pelicans job open, but Alvin Gentry could be the guy there considering that he’s already been interviewed for the job. All of that is to say that, if the report from Stein is true, we could be close to seeing Thibodeau being officially fired and not having a head coaching job to start the season.

However, Thibodeau wouldn’t be left on the street or anything. It’s hard to imagine him not taking a job as a high-profile assistant, waiting for an early season firing to take a job, or even going to a studio NBA broadcast as an analyst. Regardless of the opportunities that lie ahead, though, it’s a shame that the Bulls are reportedly acting so juvenile in regards to him being fired.

H/T to The Score

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