Source: Timberwolves fire coach Thibodeau
Adrian Wojnarowski discusses the Timberwolves firing Tom Thibodeau, saying management had been thinking about it for a while. (1:01)
The Minnesota Timberwolves have fired team president and head coach Tom Thibodeau, a league source told ESPN on Sunday.
The move comes just hours after the Wolves’ emphatic 108-86 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers improved their record to 19-21, including 14-6 at home. They are 11th in the Western Conference standings.
The Timberwolves have been playing short-handed of late, with two of their top four scorers, Robert Covington (right knee bone bruise) and Derrick Rose (sprained right ankle), still out with injuries.
Thibodeau ends his tenure as Timberwolves coach with a 97-107 record. His win total is tied with Rick Adelman for the second-most in team history.
Former Chicago Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg is in serious consideration by Minnesota owner Glen Taylor to become either the general manager or head coach in the future, league sources told ESPN. Scott Layden remains Minnesota’s general manager.
Hoiberg, who was fired as Bulls coach in December, previously worked as an assistant GM for Minnesota before becoming head coach at Iowa State in 2010.
At the time, Minnesota’s then-president of basketball operations, David Kahn, said Hoiberg was “on track to become president of an NBA team because of his broad range of skills and ability to connect with people.”
Hoiberg also spent the final two seasons of his playing career with Minnesota from 2003-05.