Jeff Van Gundy is still battling the Bulls.
During an ESPN broadcast Friday night of the Bulls-Mavericks game, the analyst and former Knicks coach went after his former rival while defending current Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau, his former assistant. Van Gundy said he views the reports of Thibodeau losing his locker room and being in danger of losing his job as just the latest injustice from an organization which routinely mistreats its coaches.
“He has done such a good job here,” Van Gundy said, according to the Arlington Daily Herald. “First two years had the best record in the league. Unfortunately, these last three playoffs have been disrupted by injury. But he came to the Bulls at a time where mediocrity reigned. They had struggled for a long time, they were basically a .500 team. Along with the emergence of some players, he’s taken it to elite status.
“I think right now, it’s almost criminal … what he’s having to endure with some of the fringe media — attacking his job status, attacking his personality. This isn’t new to Chicago Bulls basketball, all the way back to Phil Jackson. The team has publicly supported their coach while privately, oftentimes, undermining that same person. You saw it with Vinny Del Negro, Scott Skiles. Think about it, they ran Phil Jackson out after winning all those championships.
“Listen, I read every Chicago story and there is no doubt that the Bulls organization has the media, with a few exceptions, in their hip pocket. And for whatever reason, they have taken their sights on Thibodeau when all he’s done is deliver greatness here in his five years.”
Thibodeau, in his fifth season with the Bulls, has made the playoffs each season, amassing a record of 234-123. Though they are in first place in the Central Division, the Bulls had lost six of their past eight games before weekend wins over the Spurs and Mavericks.
“I think it’s wrong,” Van Gundy said. “It’s wrong for the town, wrong for the team and it certainly has not been fair to Tom Thibodeau.”
Bothered by the insinuation that the Bulls front office leaked negative information about Thibodeau, general manager John Paxson called Van Gundy’s assessment “pathetic.”
“Tom Thibodeau isn’t being undermined at all,” said Paxson, Chicago’s executive vice president of basketball operations. “What’s being undermined is the entire Bulls organization by Van Gundy, who has an agenda against our organization for whatever reason and has for years. I guess he thinks he’s trying to protect his friend, but he’s doing just the opposite. It’s pretty pathetic when you think about it, and truth be told, he owes Jerry Reinsdorf an apology for his disparaging remarks.”
Reinsdorf likely will be waiting for a long time.