A date for this pivotal meeting had not been set as of Sunday night. Donovan was to spend Monday meeting with players, both as a group and in one-on-one exit meetings. Then at some point this week, he will sit down with the Reinsdorfs to discuss whether he will remain the team\u2019s coach for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
Donovan said he expects to arrive at his conclusion fairly quickly, both out of his own preference to be decisive and out of respect for the urgency of the team\u2019s front-office search. But he didn\u2019t tip his hand in either direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at this pivot point right now,\u201d Donovan said Sunday. \u201cEverything has changed. So for me to have to sit down and have a conversation \u2014 that\u2019s really what I want to do, just to find out where we\u2019re all at on this and how we\u2019re going to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Sunday\u2019s season finale<\/a>, Donovan faced plenty of questions about how he will reach the decision that will shape both his future and that of the franchise. But when asked how other openings might affect his decision-making, Donovan began shaking his head before the question even could be finished.<\/p>\n \u201cMy commitment and my loyalty<\/a> is to the Bulls,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m employed by them. I work for them. I\u2019m committed here to Chicago. I love Chicago. So it\u2019s not going to be anything about that at all.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to go through it, but there was different opportunities that had been up over the last couple years that I didn\u2019t even entertain or look at, just because I didn\u2019t feel like it was right. I\u2019m trying to be where my feet are planted.\u201d<\/p>\n This decision also comes in the wake of a paradigm-shifting stretch<\/a> in Donovan\u2019s personal life. His father and mother-in-law both died in February. Days later, his mother suffered a series of circulation issues that resulted in the amputation of her leg.<\/p>\n Donovan, 60, acknowledged that his decision could be swayed by his desire to be closer to home and support his family. But he said he hasn\u2019t felt any pressure from his wife, sisters or mother to consider taking time off or moving closer to their home in Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean this with all respect: My family is not going to necessarily have anything to do with the decision,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been incredibly supportive. It would be more my internal (feeling) with my mom and her situation, that would be something that I would want to do. It wouldn\u2019t be a situation where I\u2019m feeling a sense of family pressure. \u2026 They\u2019ve never put me in that situation. I\u2019m grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n So what will factor into Donovan\u2019s decision?<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time he has faced a hard choice about an NBA coaching job. The highest-profile decision of his career took place in the summer of 2007, when he accepted an offer to become head coach of the Orlando Magic.<\/p>\n Donovan was formally introduced as the Magic\u2019s new coach and gave an emotional goodbye to Florida, where he was coming off back-to-back NCAA championships. A day later, Donovan changed his mind. Within a week, he had parted ways with the Magic and returned to the Gators, with whom he stayed for eight more years.<\/p>\n That regret came on quickly. Donovan said it started with a phone call he received shortly after his hiring from Stu Jackson, then the NBA\u2019s executive vice president of basketball operations and a former assistant coach at Providence when Donovan played there.<\/p>\n \u201cWelcome to the NBA,\u201d Jackson said on the phone. \u201cIt\u2019s a different world than college.\u201d<\/p>\n Donovan woke the next morning with the realization he had made a mistake leaving Florida. He was racked with guilt by the idea of reneging on his promise. But he was driven by a conversation he once had with C.M. Newton, who left the coaching job at Alabama to become assistant commissioner of the SEC.<\/p>\n Newton immediately regretted his choice but tried to stick it out. A year later, he was back in coaching at Vanderbilt and his only regret was the time he wasted before arriving at the same conclusion. Donovan didn\u2019t want to waste his time or that of the Magic. He didn\u2019t take long to make the call and begin the backtrack.<\/p>\n Nearly two decades have passed since the short-lived Orlando dalliance. Donovan feels different now \u2014 more decisive, more prepared to interrogate his own choices.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the hard part for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI gave Orlando my word and was going back on it. But I didn\u2019t think it was right for Orlando \u2014 knowing how I felt \u2014 to not be transparent on it. I think as you get older, you go through some of these situations and you really try to get more in tune with yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n Donovan also is compelled by his responsibility to the young players he invested in within the Bulls locker room, particularly second-year forward Matas Buzelis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Buzelis was away from the team when ownership announced the dismissal of Karni\u0161ovas and Eversley on April 6, stuck at home fighting a fever that held him out for most of the week. Even a young player like Buzelis, 21, knew the implications of a front office being cleared out \u2014 so he called Donovan immediately.<\/p>\n \u201cI told him: \u2018I hope you don\u2019t leave. I\u2019m riding with you forever. You\u2019re a cornerstone for my career. I don\u2019t want you to go anywhere,\u2019\u201d Buzelis said. \u201cHe probably has some options, but I want him to stay. I made that clear.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Bulls](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/CTC-L-BULLS-BUCKS-23_260083433_9fdaaa.jpg\")
Bulls coach Billy Donovan speaks to forward Matas Buzelis during the first quarter against the Bucks on March 1, 2026, at the United Center. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Magic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ctc-l-donovan124_123326301.jpg\")
Magic general manager Otis Smith shakes the hand of Billy Donovan on June 1, 2007, after introducing him as the team’s new coach at a news conference. (Red Huber\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n