If there were a day for Tom Thibodeau’s verbal reckoning with his former team, it would have come long before Tuesday.
Yet, throughout the day, Thibodeau took the high road on all things Gar/Pax and all things Jerry Reinsdorf.
He travelled that road after the morning shootaround and again after his Minnesota Timberwolves overcame a 21-point first-half deficit to pull out a 99-94 victory over the Bulls at the United Center.
“You know, I was trying to get to him at the Hall of Fame thing,’’ Thibodeau said when asked about talking with Reinsdorf since the owner played a role in his firing after the 2014-15 season. “I’ve got great respect for him. I spoke to [Jerry’s son] Michael [Reinsdorf]. But at some point, I’ll sit down with Jerry.’’
As far as meeting with general manager Gar Forman and vice president of basketball operations John Paxson, Thibodeau did his best to downplay the breakup.
“They have a job to do. I had a job to do,’’ Thibodeau said. “Unfortunately, we had some injuries along the way, so it didn’t end up maybe the way we all would have liked. But I don’t have any problem with those guys.’’
Perhaps it’s an indication of Thibodeau’s maturity. Maybe it’s much easier to move past it now that he not only is president of basketball operations/coach for the Timberwolves, but at $9 million a year is likely making more than Paxson and Forman combined.
That doesn’t change how the three men tried to ruin Thibodeau’s reputation as they shoved him out the door.
Whether it was Forman and Paxson trying to sabotage that last season together by telling players in training camp they didn’t need to listen to Thibodeau and take on the workload the coach expected of them — an allegation that the Sun-Times confirmed with multiple players — or Reinsdorf releasing a statement after the firing that read like a big, bitter cheap shot.
“When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together,’’ Reinsdorf said in the statement. “Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture.’’
Even in the news conference for the announcement of the firing, Forman described Thibodeau’s tenure as having “some success.’’
Sorry, but a 255-139 coaching record for a team that hasn’t had a whiff of the NBA Finals since a certain No. 23 left for the Washington Wizards registers as something more.
Thibodeau’s former team has gone 55-51 since his departure.
The Bulls (13-11) would only have themselves to blame. They allowed the young Wolves (7-18) to get off the canvas and close out the first half on a 22-5 run to climb back into the game. Then they were outscored 26-19 in the third quarter.
“Before you know it, they take the lead and we’re fighting uphill,’’ Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “When you have a team down, you’ve got to keep them down.’’
By the time Dwyane Wade was ejected late in the fourth quarter, it was apparent the Bulls had flinched.
Did Thibodeau gain a measure of satisfaction with the win?
“It’s all how you frame it,’’ Thibodeau said. “I owe these people a lot. They gave me an opportunity. The city has been great, the organization has been great, and in the end it didn’t work out. But for the most part, the way Jerry treated me for 99 percent of it was unbelievable.’’
Follow me on Twitter @suntimes_hoops.
Email: jcowley@suntimes.com
