Billy Donovan Steps Down as Bulls Coach

Billy Donovan has stepped down as Chicago Bulls coach after six seasons. (nba.com) The Bulls announced the move on April 21, and ESPN reported Donovan chose to step aside after meetings with ownership and after holding a contract option for next season. (espn.com) Donovan, 60, went 226-256 in the regular season with Chicago from 2020-21 through 2025-26, and his Bulls teams reached the playoffs once, losing 4-1 to the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round in 2022. (nba.com) (espn.com) The exit lands in the middle of a larger reset for the franchise. On April 6, the Bulls fired executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley after six seasons and one playoff appearance. (espn.com) (nba.com) Chicago finished 31-51 this season, missed the playoffs again, and is now searching for both a new basketball operations chief and a new head coach before the offseason calendar accelerates. (espn.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Donovan arrived in September 2020 after five playoff trips in five seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before the National Basketball Association, he spent 19 seasons at Florida and won back-to-back National Collegiate Athletic Association titles in 2006 and 2007. (nbacoaches.com) (bostonglobe.com) Basketball-Reference lists Donovan as a Hall of Fame coach, with his induction coming in 2025. His Chicago tenure ends without a series win, and the Bulls now head into another offseason with the bench and front office both unsettled. (basketball-reference.com) (chicagotribune.com)