Tom Thibodeau On Time With Bulls: 'No Regrets -- It Was A Great Run'
(CBS) In his first public comments other than a prepared statement since being fired by the Bulls on May 28, Tom Thibodeau said he had "no regrets" about his five seasons in Chicago that came to an end due to a breakdown in his relationship with team management.
Thibodeau went 255-139 (.647) in his tenure in Chicago, leading the often injury-riddled Bulls to the postseason every season but never achieving the championship goal the organization set for itself. In this final season in 2014-'15, Thibodeau's job status was front and center in the national NBA conversation before he was finally dismissed.
"I would like to think (the rumors) didn't have any (effect) because if you allow yourself to be distracted, you're going to be distracted by a lot of other things as well," Thibodeau said in an interview on ESPN's Mike and Mike. "As players, as coaches, you're going to hear things all the time, whether it's trades or being fired or whatever it might be, the thing is to lock into what you have to do each and every day, put everything you have into it and then you let the results speak for themselves. I have no regrets. It was a great run and I just move on."
Thibodeau sidestepped a question on what went "wrong" with Bulls management, saying he wanted to focus on the positives of his Bulls tenure. He also had no response to whether he was upset by the harsh comments from Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, executive vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman on his way out.
"When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together," Reinsdorf said in a statement at the time. "Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture."
Thibodeau and the Bulls front office clashed in their philosophies. Thibodeau was relentless and intense, and he came to wear on players and organizational staffers.
Speaking generally on Mike and Mike, Thibodeau said he'd learn from his Bulls experience.
"That's normal," Thibodeau said when asked about tweaking his system. "After each season, you go back through the season and you evaluate everything that was done. I don't think you ever want to stay the same. So you're always looking at how you can do things better. There's some thing soy may not change. But you always want to add, evolve.
"There's a lot off things that I learned form the experience. I learn form all my experiences.
"Whatever the next opportunity is, I'll take those lessons and try to use them."
Thibodeau reflected fondly on his time in Chicago.
"I'm very proud of what the team did," Thibodeau told Mike and Mike. "When I look back -- it's five years -- I think any time you have a pro franchise, there's going to be some carping that goes on along the way. When i look back, I'd rather focus on the positives. It was a great experience for me. I loved our players. I loved our staff. Derrick going down was a big hit for us. He missed a major part of four seasons. So we really had him for one (full) year, where he had the MVP season and it was huge for us. And we lost a lot of other guys along the way. But the team always found a way. Sometimes I sat there, I didn't know how. They did an incredible job, fought through the adversity.
"We gave it our best shot. We fell short in the end. I'm going to move on. I'm looking on to the next opportunity."