The smiles and handshakes and backslaps looked similar to those on June 23, 2010, when the Bulls introduced Tom Thibodeau as coach.
Thibodeau’s talk of building championship habits sounded familiar. Even such classic Thibs-isms like putting as much work into each and every day felt almost comforting in their delivery.
But one notable difference stood out Tuesday as Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor introduced Thibodeau as the 12th coach in franchise history and president of basketball operations in an elaborate news conference on the Target Center floor - the general manager.
Scott Layden, who held the same title with the Knicks when Thibodeau assisted Jeff Van Gundy in New York, came, like Thibodeau, with his own five-year deal off a successful stint in the Spurs’ front office.
The arranged alliance contrasted sharply with the frayed relationship with management and ownership that doomed Thibodeau’s final season with the Bulls. Management fired Thibodeau in May 2015 with two seasons left on his deal after five seasons and a 255-139 mark.
His new Timberwolves deal takes the Bulls’ remaining $4.5 million commitment to Thibodeau off the books.
“I don’t want to keep going back to Chicago,” Thibodeau said. “That’s gone, and I think you learn from everything. Most of my experience there was very, very positive. Nothing is going to be perfect. (Chairman) Jerry (Reinsdorf) took a chance on me. I’ll always appreciate that.”
But even while taking the high road that included Thibodeau placing Reinsdorf second to only Taylor in his list of thanks, Thibodeau cited the importance of synergy between the front office and coach. And he cited the positive interaction he witnessed during his paid sabbatical between the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford, the Warriors’ Steve Kerr and Bob Myers and the Celtics’ Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge as coach-executive models to emulate.
Of course, part of that failure in Chicago is on Thibodeau.
“For me personally, this is about alignment. It’s not about power or any of that stuff,” Thibodeau said. “I’ve known Scott a long time. We’re aligned in how we think. He was the person that I really wanted.”
A relaxed, confident and personable Thibodeau commanded the room. With players that included Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns looking on, he talked about coming full circle to where he started his NBA career assisting the late Bill Musselman in 1989. He joked about the photo of him with a mullet from that era circulating via social media.
“I thought that had been buried in the archives long ago,” Thibodeau said, laughing. “My nephews and my niece are killing me that it’s still out there.”
And he referenced the late Flip Saunders, whom Musselman recruited to the University of Minnesota, and how the two always would begin games coaching against each other with a Musselman-inspired play.
“I just love the makeup of this roster. That didn’t happen by accident. That was Flip’s vision,” Thibodeau said of his predecessor who died last October. “He had a well-thought out plan for how he wanted to rebuild the team.”