Since taking over the Chicago Bulls in 2010-11, Tom Thibodeau has had plenty of success.

The team's winning percentage (64.7 percent) in the past five seasons ranks fourth in the league, and the Bulls made the postseason five years in a row.

But the Bulls have decided to fire Thibodeau as head coach and usher in a new era for Bulls basketball.

Yes, the Bulls let go of a coach that led them to five consecutive playoff appearances (though, in fairness to the organization, they're 10 for the last 11 overall), but for many reasons, the decision was the right one.

1. Playoff Success

Despite all of the playoff appearances, Thibodeau never was able to take the Bulls to the NBA Finals. Of course, only part of that can fall on the coach -- he wasn't coaching the Chicago Tribune, remarked, "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.

4. Team Friction

To make matters worse, Thibs' heavy-usage of his players -- injured or not -- has been a bit of an obvious source of tension, particularly of late.

Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf was pretty overt with that sentiment. "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. To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required," Reinsdorf said in a statement.

There's really no quantitative analysis for this last reason, but when a team's front office is as quick to speak out against the man who helped lead their team to the fourth-best record during the past five years as the Bulls' has been -- in addition to the statistical struggles for the team -- it's clearly a sign that this was the right choice for both sides involved.