PHILADELPHIA — The Chicago Bulls and coach Billy Donovan are once again trapped in a familiar, awkward tango.
A blue-blood college program fired its coach. And Donovan is one of the top prospects to fill the vacancy.
This year the suitor is North Carolina, which fired coach Hubert Davis on Tuesday after a first-round NCAA Tournament loss to No. 11 seed VCU. ESPN reported Donovan is one of the top targets in the Tar Heels coaching search.
During his pregame media availability Wednesday night, Donovan didn’t explicitly deny any interest from college programs. He voiced respect for Davis “as a man” and praised North Carolina as an “incredible program” but did not express any interest in or intention of taking over the Tar Heels.
“My main focus is just these guys and this new team and trying to get those guys better,” said Donovan, who two years ago fended off similar speculation about his interest in the open position at Kentucky. “I understand there’s stuff that’s out there. People speculate things. I understand it. I’ll try to answer the best I can. But for me, I’m just trying to concentrate on this group.”
It wasn’t an outright denial. Donovan reiterated a series of platitudes that haven’t changed during his time with the Bulls. He enjoys working with Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and President/CEO Michael Reinsdorf, values his relationship with executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and believes in the Bulls’ ability to build a winning program.
Still, this latest wave of rumors touches a nerve as the Bulls near the end of their sixth season under Donovan. Internally, the team is beginning to prepare for the prospect that he might not return in the fall.
If the head coach position opens in Chicago, it would be Donovan’s decision. The front office and ownership remain committed to Donovan, who has maintained the unwavering confidence of his employers despite his overall record with the Bulls slipping below .500 this season. The multiyear contract extension he signed last summer reflects this long-term trust from the top.
But Donovan, who will turn 61 in May, is not quiet about his frustration with the Bulls’ underperformance over the last four years. They could be eliminated from postseason contention by the end of this four-game trip. After three years of failing to advance to the playoffs through the play-in tournament, Donovan is keenly aware of the precipice upon which the team is teetering.
At this type of turning point, there are only two choices: Get out of a bad situation or double down with a commitment to make the team better.
“We’re pivoting right now,” Donovan said. “A lot of it’s going to be me sitting down with ownership, with Arturas, just to find out: OK, what’s the next step? How are we all looking at going through this? What do we need to do to continue to improve and to get better?”
“The biggest thing, clearly, with the moves that were made at the trade deadline was: How do we get out of the middle? And if we’re taking a step back, what do we have to do to take a step forward where we’re actually building something? We may have to go through a play-in again, but how are we going to get into the playoffs?”
If Donovan leaves Chicago, it’s not a given he would return to college basketball. For the last 10 years, his focus has been affixed to the NBA. He doesn’t watch the college game as closely, outside of scouting potential draft talent in the summers. He didn’t even watch Florida’s second-round loss to Iowa on Sunday. (“Thank God,” he said with a laugh Wednesday.)
Donovan maintains strong relationships with college coaches, such his mentor, Rick Pitino, and often fields calls from coaches looking for advice. But the Hall of Fame coach is remarkably removed from the college game he once dominated.
College coaching has changed drastically in the decade since Donovan left Florida after winning back-to-back national titles in 2006 and ’07. Name, image and likeness money has shifted the entire landscape of the sport. Players are more mobile. Windows close faster. Nothing would be quite the same as before.
But there is one thing Donovan hopes to reclaim from his years at Florida and with the Oklahoma City Thunder: winning. The Bulls have fallen short for too many seasons. And if he can’t see potential in the front office’s plan for the rebuild, those within the organization understand he might seek success elsewhere.
“I wanted to get into coaching to win,” Donovan said. “How are we going to work to get into a place where we’re really competing? And how do we build this out going forward? Those are the things I think we need to talk about.
“Because, yeah, selfishly, competitively, I want us to be in that situation where we’re playing in real, legitimate (games). … I want to be in that situation. I understand that that doesn’t happen overnight or in a blink of an eye. It takes a lot of hard work and diligence.”
