Bulls dump coach after five seasons

CHICAGO —Tom Thibodeau was fired as coach of the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, unable to bring playoff success despite five winning campaigns with the NBA club.

Thibodeau went 255-139 in his tenure as coach, guiding the Bulls to Central division crowns in 2010-11 and 2011-12. But the Bulls, nagged by injuries to star Derrick Rose during his stay, went only 23-28 in playoff games under him.

"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, 57, was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 2011 when he matched the NBA record for rookie coaches with 62 wins.

He was part of a championship squad as an assistant coach with Boston in 2008 and also had assistant's stints with San Antonio, Minnesota, Philadelphia, New York and Houston over 21 years before landing his first coaching post with the Bulls.

Tensions between Thibodeau and management grew over the years and became more than ownership wanted to tolerate after the Bulls were ousted by Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinals earlier this month.

"The Chicago Bulls have a history of achieving great success on and off the court. These accomplishments have been possible because of an organizational culture where input from all parts of the organization has been welcomed and valued, there has been a willingness to participate in a free flow of information, and there have been clear and consistent goals," Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said.