Despite the success of the Chicago Bulls in the 2015 NBA playoffs, the team's front office reportedly "can't wait" to fire coach Tom Thibodeau. There've been reports for years indicating Chicago and Thibodeau were headed for a split, but the recent surge of such reports suggests it may finally happen after the season regardless of what happens in the playoffs.
Victories be damned, the Chicago front office is set apparently on firing Thibodeau regardless. The Bulls' impressive playoff run, which includes a 99-92 win Monday night against Cleveland, may not even be enough to save him, according to the latest report from Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
"Amid the twisted culture of Chicago's regime - where winning is losing, where success is failure - management can't wait to rid itself of one Tom Thibodeau," Wojnarowski wrote Tuesday.
The purported friction between the Bulls' front office and Thibodeau seems to be so bad that it overshadows what Thibodeau has done in his five seasons with the team, including reaching the postseason twice without oft-injured superstar Derrick Rose.
As mentioned, there've been reports about the tenuous relationship between the front office and Thibodeau, but the recent number of reports - at least four since January, just off the top of my head - suggests things are finally reaching a breaking point. The reports have ranged from the front office deliberately trying to undermine Thibodeau to things not really being as bad as they seem, but where there's smoke there's fire.
One of the latest Thibodeau reports came in April from Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher, who said Chicago was "ready to call it quits" with Thibodeau after the season.
Depending on whom you listen to, the alleged friction between the two sides comes from them clashing over personnel control, the difficulties they have in communicating with each other, and how hard Thibodeau works the players.
If Chicago is ready to split with Thibodeau, the front office will likely try to trade him - like how the Celtics offloaded Doc Rivers to the Clippers. If things are really as bad as the reports suggest, Chicago could always just fire him outright and eat the rest of his contract.
Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg has been frequently mentioned as a possible successor for Thibodeau in Chicago.
