Tom Thibodeau proves to be bigger man in talking about the Bulls

MINNEAPOLIS – A newly inked five-year, $40 million deal can build a lot of things, including a high road.

Despite having the stage to finally speak his mind about a Bulls organization seemingly more intent on smearing his reputation over the last year, Tom Thibodeau instead used his platform as newly-named Minnesota Timberwolves coach/president of basketball operations to be the bigger man and go out of his way to thank his former franchise.

As a matter of fact, the first person Thibodeau thanked in his press conference at the Target Center on Tuesday was Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.

Surprising, especially since Reinsdorf went out of his way to pile on the coach’s firing last year, releasing a statement in which he painted Thibodeau as impossible to work with.

“Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization-staff, players, coaches, management and ownership,’’ Reinsdorf said in the statement. “When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture.’’

Asked afterward why he thanked Reinsdorf first, Thibodeau responded, “When I look back, I learned a lot from that whole situation. Most of my experience there was very, very positive. Nothing is going to be perfect. … Jerry took a chance on me. I’ll always appreciate that.’’

Thibodeau mellowing?

Hardly.

He still made sure to hit his talking points about his upcoming task, throwing out the usual Thib-isms about “five-man offense, five-man defense,’’ and it’s only a matter of weeks before he starts bellowing out “Do your job.’’

But spending the last year off allowed him to visit more than a handful of NBA organizations to get a closer look how a front office and a coach should interact. A relationship that ended very badly with the Bulls, as VP of basketball operations John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman acted like a two-headed snake more intent on pushing Thibodeau out than giving him more say in the direction of the team.

That won’t be a problem now, especially since Thibodeau will be working with new GM Scott Layden, but also having the title of president.

“It’s gone, so I don’t look back,’’ Thibodeau said of the five years he spent in Chicago. “To me it was about getting better moving forward, so you’re a sum of all your experiences. You’re always trying to learn, always trying to get better, how can you do it better. So that’s the way I view it. As I mentioned there were a lot of positives out of Chicago.’’

Postseason basketball this season without Thibodeau at the helm wasn’t one of them.

Yes, the Bulls are now off the hook for the $4.5 million they still owed their former coach, but they also had a 42-40 record, as well as their first trip to the lottery in seven seasons. In Thibodeau’s five-year tenure, the Bulls reached the playoffs every season, never finishing worse than 45-37.

Yet, it was a decision the Bulls still have no regrets about making.

“We made that change last year for a lot of reasons, and they were all in the best interest of the Chicago Bulls organization,’’ Paxson said two weeks ago. “And that’s the bottom line.’’

Thibodeau’s new franchise has a bottom line of their own.

Star rookie Karl-Anthony Towns was asked if he knew anything about Thibodeau’s time in Chicago, and simply said, “No, I really don’t. I just know his Bulls teams won.’’