G'Night, Sweet Prince: A Eulogy For the Tyrus Thomas Era

Let's get one thing straight: Tyrus Thomas was never coming back to the Bulls next year. The Bulls weren't going to pick up his $6.2 million option after the season before Saturday's team-imposed suspension, and, of course, nothing he does the rest of the year will make the organization change its mind. Step one of the Bulls' how-to-get-good 2010 plan was getting rid of Tyrus and Ben Gordon.  With either or both around, the Bulls wouldn't have max cap money this summer, and couldn't have dreams of landing Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, or Amare Stoudemire. 

I want to make sure people know this. Tyrus did not seal his fate by recently bitching out VDN over playing time. His fate was effectively sealed the second upper management made the decision to let Gordon walk. Nothing save for a 20 and 10 season was going to have Tyrus back in a Bulls uniform, and even that might not have been enough.

It's no secret Tyrus is my boy. When I announced the All Ricky O'Donnell Team over the weekend, Tyrus earned the backup four spot. What's funny is that Tyrus would never accept the fictitious assignment: Tyrus Thomas comes off the bench for nobody, not even me.

I wish I could blame this all on the Bulls, but nope. Can't do it. Tyrus certainly deserves to take some credit himself. Like any liberally-inclined thinker, I'm all about making excuses for those that never reach their potential. Guilty as charged. But not even the most ardent Tyrus supporter can pin his Chicago failures solely on the organization. Tyrus has a big stake in this too, no doubt about it. If he would only run the goddamn floor, 90 percent of this shit never would have happened. But, alas, that's not the way Tyrus rolls. That stubbornness killed his Bulls' tenure more than anything else.

K.C. Johnson gave us the perfect anecdote to sum up Tyrus in a surprisingly fair piece today in the Trib. I think this tells you all you need to know.

Thomas grew up with loving uncles instead of a father but still once told the Tribune he "couldn't take other males telling me what to do."

It's that "fuck the man" attitude that endeared Tyrus to me as much as the highlight reel dunks. Tyrus is a real human, not a meticulously programmed robot. He's young, he's brash, he's immature, and he's often wrong. He's not Hinrich or Deng, he didn't come from that background, he doesn't have that pedigree, he didn't go to Duke.

Tyrus isn't a bad guy, though. He's not a thug. His problems aren't abnormal for NBA players or for 23-year olds. Sure, Tyrus' job and draft status means he probably should have gotten his shit together sooner. The problem is that the Bulls never adapted to Tyrus, they only tried to change him. When that failed, they gave up.

It's one thing that irritates me to death about the Bulls. They're so inflexible. They never even try to understand. Tyrus could have been a successful player here, but the Bulls made sure that if it didn't happen on their terms, it wouldn't happen at all. Well guess what, dummies? Your line-in-the-sand, blue collar, earn-what-you-get philosophy only bought you a massive disappointment with what was essentially the No. 2 pick in the 2006 draft. Congratulations. You got it your way.

It's unfortunate that this is how it's going to end. Was Tyrus stupid for bitching out Del Negro? Kind of. Even if he did have a point, minutes were inevitable anyways now that Noah is out. But it all seems fitting, seeing this publicly go down in flames. Even if you don't fault the Bulls for never bending over backwards for Tyrus, you can't defend the way they've dragged his name and reputation through the mud since day one. We're talking about an organization that still won't let its players wear headbands, so maybe this isn't surprising. But besides for killing any chance for success with Tyrus the player, the Bulls also destroyed Tyrus the trade chip.

Do you think any team actually values Thomas at this point? From the outside looking in, Tyrus must seem like nothing but an I-get-mine punk. It's not entirely inaccurate, but it fails to tell the whole story. 

Tyrus isn't so different from a lot of guys in this league who have had success. The Bulls just never made the necessary concessions to see if it could happen for them.