Bulls’ Jerry Reinsdorf is missing big on his treatment of Tom ThibodeauJoe Cowleyon October 27, 2021 at 5:29 pm

In honoring Joakim Noah at the United Center on Thursday, it’s a reminder of the pettiness that The Chairman was still holding onto after all these years when it comes to the second-best coach in franchise history in Thibodeau.

The Bulls have always celebrated their warriors.

Whether it’s a video tribute in a first return to the grounds they once fought on at the United Center, or just declaring an entire evening to honor a player like they will do with Joakim Noah on Thursday, it’s an organization built on maintaining that loyalty.

In paying tribute to those on-the-court soldiers.

One glaring problem? They’re forgetting the generals.

In particular, former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau.

This is where Jerry Reinsdorf’s pettiness remains his Achilles Heel.

As disconnected as the relationship has gotten between myself and the Chairman over the years, I will always maintain he is the best sports owner the city of Chicago has ever had, and has seven championship trophies to prove it.

Luck, circumstance in what he inherited, great timing, however his critics want to try and dent the hardware he’s collected it falls on deaf ears. His teams won titles and his nameplate was on the owner’s office door.

In our last encounter, he still carried himself like the smartest man in the room, because most rooms he walks in he often is.

Reinsdorf didn’t stumble into having billions in team value, he earned it. There’s an elite intelligence with that.

But in honoring the likes of Jimmy Butler, Derrick Rose, Taj Gibson, Deng and Noah from those beloved 2010-2015 Bulls teams, he’s purposely spitting at the man that made those players, put Reinsdorf’s team back on the global map post-Michael Jordan, and frankly made the Chairman millions.

Thibodeau did all of those things, and yet isn’t fit for a 45-second tribute video after all these years?

Sure, he was fired and didn’t go out in the best circumstances in the opinion of what has now proven to be a then-incompetent front office, but for a guy that practices and preaches loyalty – almost to a fault – like Reinsdorf does, his disloyalty to Thibodeau and what the second-best coach in the history of the organization did is sinful.

Not once since he was fired has Thibodeau said anything but kind words about Jerry, his son Michael, and even former executive John Paxson. Both publicly and privately.

Even when Reinsdorf tried to diminish Thibodeau as a coach and person in a statement after the firing, Thibodeau took the high road and thanked Reinsdorf for the chance. And continues to do that to this day.

Reinsdorf is going to be 86 years old this February. He can either start letting grudges go or dig his feet deeper into the mud.

The shame is he can afford really expensive boots.

As for Thibodeau, the Knicks coach was just grateful for the opportunity to be in attendance on the night Noah will be honored.

“I’m thrilled for him,” Thibodeau said of Noah on Tuesday. “He’s a special guy, had an incredible career. That team resonated with the city, and Jo was the heart and soul of that team. When you watched his game, aesthetically his shot wasn’t pretty, but it went in. The beauty of his game was his effort, his heart, and he’d make three, four, five efforts on a play, and that’s special. He got the absolute most out of his ability.

“He was an emotional guy. I loved him, I fought with him. I loved him, I fought with him. He’s a dear friend now, and that’s maybe the best part of coaching is the afterlife when there’s an appreciation for each other.”

Maybe Reinsdorf will find that “appreciation” with Thibodeau.

Maybe there will be an “afterlife” between the two.

The general deserves that.

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