The first seven words of Leon Rose’s statement stuck with me.

“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship,” he wrote.

Here was Rose justifying firing his longtime friend, Tom Thibodeau, a person he knows quite well, and frankly, there couldn’t be a message more insulting to the coach’s personality than a pink slip stating, essentially, “We’re focused on winning, so this guy has to leave.”

You could claim Thibodeau is difficult to work with. Fine.