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Jeff Van Gundy Admits That Tom Thibodeau's Agent Asked Him To Scale Back Criticism Of Bulls' Front Office

(CBS) As one of the NBA's most respected analysts, Jeff Van Gundy made headlines in January during an ESPN telecast when he criticized the Bulls' front office for working to undermine coach Tom Thibodeau, who is a close friend of Van Gundy's.

A firestorm followed, as the comments were the strongest yet on a national scale to address the disconnect between Bulls' management and Thibodeau. Bulls general manager Gar Forman reportedly exploded on Van Gundy, and executive vice president John Paxson later fired back by calling Van Gundy's comments "pathetic."

As it turns out, that wasn't the end of it. Van Gundy admitted to the Chicago Tribune that Thibodeau's agent, Leon Rose of Creative Artists Agency, asked him to scale back his criticism of the Bulls and their relationship with Thibodeau.

"I've been asked by (Leon Rose) to tone it down a bit," Van Gundy said, according to the Tribune.

"He asked that I not say anything bad about (Thibodeau's relationship with the Bulls). It was getting people upset. I told him I have a job to do, but at the same time, I don't want to do anything to hurt Tom."

It's no secret that Thibodeau and the Forman-Paxson duo have had their differences, stemming in part from Thibodeau's grinding style that has left the Bulls not at their best late in the season and also the front office's summer 2013 release of assistant coach Ron Adams, a trusted friend of Thibodeau's.

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