Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau was fired Thursday, according to a report on ESPN.

Thibodeau started with the Bulls five years ago and has led the team to a .647 winning percentage in the regular season, which is 255-139. He received the 2010-2011 NBA Coach of the Year Award, coaching the likes of star performing point guard Derrick Rose, who only actually played 181 out of 394 games due to injuries.

Defensively, his team excelled as first in the league in points per game at 92.6 and field goal percentage at 43.2 since Thibodeau's first season.

News of this firing comes after the Bulls were eliminated by LeBron James's Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals this post-season. The coach still had two years and $9 million left on his contract.

In a statement on the Bulls official website, Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf wrote a long, descriptive goodbye to Thibodeau.

"The Chicago Bulls have a history of achieving great success on and off the court. These accomplishments have been possible because of an organizational culture where input from all parts of the organization has been welcomed and valued, there has been a willingness to participate in a free flow of information, and there have been clear and consistent goals," Reinsdorf said.

Reinsdorf went on to talk about how everyone must come together for decisions. He explained that the head of a department should be able to make the final call, but that there should still be discuss and consideration of various people's ideas. He also stressed the importance of the discussions being private. 

"Teams that consistently perform at the highest levels are able to come together and be unified across the organization-staff, players, coaches, management and ownership," he continued. "When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together. Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture."

The Bulls believe there needs to be a change so that the organization can continue to flourish, Reinsdorf said. 

"Days like today are difficult, but necessary for us to achieve our goals and fulfill our commitments to our fans," he added. "I appreciate the contributions that Tom Thibodeau made to the Bulls organization. I have always respected his love of the game and wish him well in the future."

Thibodeau had spent 21 years in the NBA as an assistant coach before he came to the helm of the Bulls organization in June of 2010, according to their website. He advanced the team to the post-season all five years with a 23-28 record (.451).

"When Tom was hired in 2010, he was right for our team and system at that time, and over the last five years we have had some success with Tom as our head coach," Bulls General Manager Gar Forman said. "But as we looked ahead and evaluated how we as a team and an organization could continue to grow and improve, we believed a change in approach was needed."