President Obama on Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau? 'Great hire'

The Chicago Bulls are riding high with coach Tom Thibodeau manning the ship. But even before the NBA's likely Coach of the Year took to the court in 2010-11, President Barack Obama was well on board with his adopted hometown team's choice for head coach. To hear the Prez tell it -- according to Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf -- Thibodeau was a "great hire."

Because even the most glorious and productive of presidential administrations will boast millions of fervent detractors, aligning yourself with a president and his staff very closely will lose you some fans. But that doesn't matter to Reinsdorf, who proudly told the Chicago Sun-Times recently that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan first recommended Thibodeau as a candidate for the Bulls' post three years ago.

Never mind that the Bulls decided not to hire Thibodeau, despite the recommendation. Reinsdorf pointed out that Thibodeau's employer back in 2008, the Boston Celtics, wouldn't allow Thibs to speak with the Bulls until after the playoffs -- and the C's won the championship in late June of that year.

Still, then wait until after the finals, Jerry. Because Duncan (a former Harvard point guard who played professionally in Australia) knew what he was talking about. And especially because Vinny Del Negro was your consolation prize.

It was worth the wait, though. Had Thibodeau been hired in 2008, his style may have grated on the Bulls to a breaking point by this time, and his work with this 44-18 team has been masterful in his rookie year. Also to hear Reinsdorf tell it, Duncan's two bosses saw this coming a mile away.

From the Sun-Times:

"When the job was open again, I talked to Duncan several times on the subject, and he still strongly recommended Thibodeau,'' Reinsdorf recalled. ‘‘So we hired him. Then in July 2010, the White Sox were playing in Washington, and we invited President Obama to come to the game.

‘‘First, David Axelrod [then Obama's senior adviser] arrived and said, ‘Thanks for hiring Thibodeau.' Then a little while later, President Obama came in and the first thing he said to me was, ‘Great hire.'"

Two years too late, but, yes. Great hire.

And because he's Jerry Reinsdorf, the Bulls owner has high hopes for his team. Perhaps a little too high.