After four years at Harvard, Tom Thibodeau entered the NBA as an assistant coach with an expansion team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, under head coach Bill Musselman in 1989. Prior to the 1991–92 season, he joined the Seattle SuperSonics as an advance scout. Thibodeau moved to the San Antonio Spurs the following season, where he worked as an assistant coach to Jerry Tarkanian, Rex Hughes and John Lucas for two seasons. After the 1993–94 season, he left the Spurs along with Lucas to become an assistant under Lucas with the Philadelphia 76ers. After the 1995–96 season, he again left simultaneously with Lucas, this time joining the New York Knicks as an assistant to head coach Jeff Van Gundy. During his tenure with the Knicks, he helped the team set a then-NBA record by holding 33 consecutive opponents under 100 points in the 2000–01 season. As part of the Knicks coaching staff, he also helped Van Gundy to coach the Eastern Conference All-Stars in the 2000 All-Star Game. He spent seven years with the Knicks before joining the Houston Rockets prior to the 2003–04 season, where again he was an assistant to head coach Van Gundy. On August 30, 2007, Thibodeau was named associate head coach of the Boston Celtics, who hoped to bolster their defense with his hiring. Eventually, he helped the Celtics become the best defensive team in the league with his expertise. On November 4, 2007, Thibodeau took over head coaching duties against the Toronto Raptors in place of Doc Rivers, who was unable to coach due to the death of his father earlier that day. During the 2008 playoffs, Thibodeau had been rumored as a candidate for the vacant head coaching job with the New York Knicks, whom he worked for as an assistant coach for seven years, as well as the Chicago Bulls. However, he wasn't hired as the head coach of either franchise. Thibodeau led the Celtics to the best rating in several defensive categories in 2007–08, and was a key factor in containing Kobe Bryant during the 2008 Finals. On June 2, 2010, the eve of the 2010 Finals, Thibodeau interviewed with officials from the Chicago Bulls for their vacant head coach position. On June 23, 2010, he was confirmed as the Bulls' head coach. Thibodeau was named the NBA Coach of the Year on May 1, 2011, after tying the record for most wins by a rookie head coach with 62. He also led the Bulls to their first 50-win season and first division title since the Michael Jordan era. The Bulls lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat. On February 14, 2012, Tom Thibodeau clinched the position of Eastern Conference All-Star Coach for the All-Star Game in Orlando. At the time, the Bulls were first in the Eastern Conference. With a win over the Orlando Magic on March 19, 2012, Thibodeau became the fastest coach in NBA history to earn 100 career victories. He accomplished this in 130 games, one game fewer than the record set previously by Avery Johnson in 2006. Thibodeau and the Bulls were the East's top-seed entering the playoffs and also had the league's best regular season record and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. In Game 1 of the Bulls' first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, point guard Derrick Rose tore his ACL. Thibodeau defended his decision to keep Rose in the game with 1 minute, 22 seconds remaining in the game and the Bulls leading by 12 points. Commenting on Thibodeau's decision, Bulls general manager Gar Forman stated, There is absolutely no issue there. It's a playoff game. They had cut a lead down (from 20) to 12. We're going to have our guys on the floor making sure we win the game. Tom is a terrific coach who does a lot of things well. One of the best things he does is pace our team." Thibodeau finished second to Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs in 2012 NBA Coach of the Year voting.The Bulls season was cut short after a 4-2 defeat to the 76ers. Rose missed the entire 2012–13 season, but despite his absence, the Bulls finished 47-35, second in the Central Division (behind the Indiana Pacers) and 5th in their conference. They defeated the Brooklyn Nets 4-3 (after leading 3-1) in the first round of the playoffs and lost to the Miami Heat 4–1 in the next round. On May 13, 2013, Thibodeau received a $35,000 fine for criticizing the referees during the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Miami Heat. Thibodeau finished third in 2014 NBA Coach of the Year voting. He led the second year straight Derrick Rose-less Bulls to the fourth best record in the Eastern Conference. However, the Bulls' season ended with a 4-1 series loss to the 5th seeded Washington Wizards."
