The Chicago Bulls will move forward without Billy Donovan.<\/p>\n
The coach decided on Tuesday to step away from the team after six seasons following a meeting with Bulls ownership. Donovan immediately becomes a top candidate for openings around the league as the NBA kicks off the whirlwind coaching carousel.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a series of thoughtful and extensive discussions with ownership regarding the future of the organization, I have decided to step away as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, to allow the search process to unfold,\u201d Donovan said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe it is in the best interest of the Bulls, to allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit. My gratitude for this community and this organization is permanent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u2018It\u2019s been too much\u2019: Billy Donovan shouldering a series of family tragedies amid Chicago Bulls turmoil<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
President\/CEO Michael Reinsdorf emphasized the team\u2019s desire to retain Donovan<\/a> after the April 6 dismissal<\/a> of executive vice president of basketball operations Art\u016bras Karni\u0161ovas and general manager Marc Eversley. Bulls ownership saw Donovan as a crucial building block to its vision for the team. Reinsdorf stated in an April 7 news conference that anyone who didn\u2019t see Donovan as the proper fit as coach was \u201cnot the right candidate for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without Donovan, Reinsdorf will now work with senior adviser John Paxson and assistant general managers JJ Polk and Pat Connelly to seek a new top executive and head coach \u2014 a massive undertaking for a team in flux after missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.<\/p>\n
\u201cBilly Donovan is one of the finest people and coaches I have had the privilege of knowing and working with. He brought class and genuine care to this organization that made a real impact on people,\u201d Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. \u201cWe wanted Billy to continue as our head coach \u2014 that was never in question. But through honest conversations, we all agreed that giving our new Head of Basketball Operations the right to build out his staff was the most important thing for the future of this franchise. That is the kind of person Billy is \u2014 he put the Bulls first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donovan, 60, signed a multiyear contract extension in July 2025, the terms of which were not disclosed. The Bulls originally hired him to a four-year contract in September 2020, replacing Jim Boylen, and Donovan signed an extension two years later.<\/p>\n
The last six years in Chicago mark the first losing stretch of Donovan\u2019s decorated career. His Bulls teams went 225-254 (TK add results of last three games TK), finishing over .500 just once \u2014 46-36 in 2021-22 \u2014 advancing to only one playoff series and recording only one playoff victory in that span. They did qualify for the play-in tournament the last three seasons, losing each year to the Miami Heat. But Reinsdorf did not lay the blame on Donovan, saying he believes the coach did the best he could with the rosters and situation provided to him.<\/p>\n
Donovan was the third-longest-tenured coach in the NBA, behind the Miami Heat\u2019s Erik Spoelstra, who succeeded Pat Riley in April 2008, and the Golden State Warriors\u2019 Steve Kerr, hired in May 2014.<\/p>\n
After 25 years in the NCAA that included 19 seasons and back-to-back national championships with Florida in 2006-07, Donovan moved to the NBA in 2015, taking over the Oklahoma City Thunder. He went 243-157 in five seasons there, qualifying for the playoffs every year and advancing to the Western Conference Finals in 2016.<\/p>\n