Chicago Bulls Fire Coach Tom Thibodeau

The Chicago Bulls have fired coach Tom Thibodeau as part of a “change in approach” for the team, general manager Gar Forman said Thursday after the Bulls lost to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals. “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,” Forman said in a statement. “But as we looked ahead of evaluated how we as a team and an organization could continue to grow and improve, we believed a change in approach was needed.” Thibodeau had two years and around $9 million left on his contract. Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg is currently the front-runner to replace Thibodeau.