Chicago Bulls: Five replacements for Tom Thibodeau
Tom Thibodeau had an impressive run during his five seasons with the Chicago Bulls, but clashes with management and disconnect from his players ultimately cost him his job. Here are five potential replacements for the departed head coach:
The Chicago Bulls were a dominant force in the NBA‘s Eastern Conference throughout former head coach Tom Thibodeau’s tenure with the team. Despite coaching a large portion of that time without his star player, point guard Derrick Rose, he still managed to win over 64 percent of his games with the team.
Unfortunately, winning does not cure everything.
Here is the statement from the Bulls organization following his release, via Business Insider:
"“While the head of each department of the organization must be free to make final decisions regarding his department, there must be free and open interdepartmental discussion and consideration of everyone’s ideas and opinions. These internal discussions must not be considered an invasion of turf, and must remain private. Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization – staff, players, coaches, management and ownership. When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture. To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required.”"
It is no secret that the tangled triangle of Thibodeau, the Bulls’ front office and the players on the team was a growing, and potentially toxic problem. The newest head-coaching free agent in the NBA had apparently grown distant from all parties, including not talking to management for months at a time and slowly losing the faith of his locker room.
With Thibodeau’s long-awaited departure finally occurring today, here are five coaches that the Chicago Bulls should consider as his replacement:
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