The supposed friction between Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau and the front office is an open secret at this point. The question, though, is whether the discord between the two sides is real or just overblown.
Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler hasn't denied there being friction between Thibodeau and the front office, but on Monday he seemed to suggest a divorce between the two sides isn't imminent.
"I can tell you (what's) real... (Bulls vice president John) Paxson and (general manager Gus) Forman have their own view of the world and the team and Thibbs has his own view and when things are not right, that dynamic isn't right," Kyler wrote Monday. "(ESPN analyst Jeff Van Gundy) is saying publicly what others on the team cannot say - Thibbs has language in his contract that restricts him, and he has a job to do that doesn't get easier with the noise this generates.
"I am not sure how much longer the marriage in Chicago lasts - but I have this stance. If Paxson-Forman can't get on the same page with Thibbs, they need to go not Thibbs... but (owner Jerry) Reinsdorf if very loyal to Paxson."
Van Gundy made headlines in January when he accused Chicago's front office of undermining Thibodeau, and he didn't back down from those comments Sunday during his broadcast of the Bulls-Clippers game.
"What I said previously, I stand by," Van Gundy said, via FanSided. "I think, over the course of time, they've been unfriendly and they haven't been pro-coach. I think you go all the way back to Doug Collins' time here, then Phil Jackson, and go on and on and on. So I don't really feel the need to reiterate too much. That's what I said. That's what I believe.
He also took a shot at Paxson.
"John Paxson, to be fair, said he thought what I said was 'pathetic,'" he said. "He was so mad at me I thought I had traded LaMarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas and not him."
Van Gundy was emphatic that nothing he said came from Thibodeau, whose agent supposedly asked the Van Gundy to tone down his criticism on the Thibodeau's relationship with the front office.
"I've been asked by (Leon Rose) to tone it down a bit," Van Gundy said, according to the Chicago Tribune. "He asked that I not say anything bad about (Thibodeau's relationship with the Bulls). It was getting people upset. I told him I have a job to do, but at the same time, I don't want to do anything to hurt Tom."
