Tom Thibodeau's Firing Continues to Plague the Bulls

This season, the Knicks and Thibodeau are one victory away from that coveted 50-win season. Their final opponent? The Bulls. Getting to 50 wins typically defines that fine line between being a playoff team and a true contender.

Since his Bulls' tenure came to an end, Thibodeau is 13-6 against his former team. While Forman and Paxson are gone, Thibodeau always tries to find a way to when he faces the Bulls.

The Bulls haven't even come close to assembling a conditioned and physical roster that Thibodeau would employ each night. Both the Forman/Paxson and the Arturas Karnisovas/Marc Eversley regimes have prioritized pace-and-space and offense. Bulls players continue to prove to be fragile, leading to questions aimed at the training staff.

This reflection also elicits deep pondering of Thibodeau's time with the Bulls. With a better medical staff, just how successful could the Thibodeau era have been? While the Knicks have some injuries, they don't seem to deal with chronic woes like the Bulls have seen for the past decade and a half. New York has also found ways to develop under-the-radar players into meaningful contributors.

Looking at the big picture, the Knicks' future appears bright with Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby leading the way. On the other hand, the Bulls lack a true direction, remain on a sub-.500 trajectory, and roster an aging core with minimal young talent to build around. And again, the Bulls fan base is frustrated with the coach as many hoped Billy Donovan would depart for Kentucky's job opening.

Several factors beyond the coach play into success in today's NBA, but it seems Bulls basketball would be in a much better place if Thibodeau was still patrolling the sidelines.