Chicago Bulls Dismiss Head Coach Tom Thibodeau

Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images(CHICAGO) — The Chicago Bulls announced on Thursday that head coach Tom Thibodeau was relived of his duties.

After losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, Thibodeau’s tenure seemed destined to be coming to a close. Chicago made the decision official Thursday, with team Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf offering praise for Thibodeau’s “love of the game.” Still, Reinsdorf explained the decision to part with the largely-successful head coach in a statement, saying that he felt the move was necessary for the Bulls to “continue to grow and succeed.”

“Days like today are difficult,” Reinsdorf added, “but necessary for us to achieve our goals and fulfill our commitments to our fans.”

“When Tom was hired in 2010, he was right for our team and system at that time, and over the last five years we have had some success with Tom as our head coach,” Bulls General Manager Gar Forman said, “but as we looked ahead and evaluated how we as a team and an organization could continue to grow and improve, we believed a change in approach was needed.”

Thibodeau spent five seasons as the Bulls head coach, racking up more wins than any other Bulls coach since the NBA-ABA merger besides the legendary Phil Jackson. In those five seasons, the Bulls averaged 51 victories, but went just 23-28 in the postseason.

Thibodeau’s tenure was hindered in part by injury woes, as star Derrick Rose missed the better part of two seasons with knee injuries and much of the rest of the Bulls roster dealt with nagging health issues.

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