Billy Donovan Fired
The respect between Billy Donovan and Monty Williams is palpable. Williams, in town Friday as head coach of the high-flying Phoenix Suns, served as Donovan’s lead assistant coach with the Oklahoma City Thunder for part of the 2015-16 season as Donovan made the transition from coaching Florida to two NCAA titles in a decorated college career to the NBA. Three and a half years after he left Florida, Billy Donovan has the best odds to be the next NBA head coach fired, according to BetDSI. Donovan flirted with NBA opportunities during his 19-year. The Chicago Bulls hired Billy Donovan as their coach Tuesday, landing one of the top candidates on the market to lead a rebuilding team with an overhauled front office.
William John Donovan Jr. (born May 30, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA), a position he took in September 2020. Donovan had been the head coach of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder from 2015 until 2020, and previously served as the head basketball coach at the University of. 9 hours ago Boylen was fired in August; Billy Donovan was brought in as his replacement in September. After three consecutive years of missing the postseason, Bulls fans were hoping Donovan.
CHICAGO -- New Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan shook up his staff, letting assistants Karen Stack Umlauf, Dean Cooper, Nate Loenser and Roy Rogers go on Monday.
A standout player for Northwestern in the early 1980s, Umlauf joined the Bulls as an entry-level ticket representative in 1985. Hall of Fame general manager Jerry Krause shifted her to the basketball operations department soon afterward and she became Chicago's first female assistant when she served as associate coach at the 2018 summer league.
Loenser was in his third season with the Bulls. Cooper was in his second and Rogers was in his first.
The moves came on the same day chairman Jerry Reinsdorf's other team, the Chicago White Sox, split with manager Rick Renteria and longtime pitching coach Don Cooper.
One of the top coaching candidates on the market, Donovan was hired last month by new executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas. Donovan replaced the fired Jim Boylen.
Was Billy Donovan Fired
Donovan led Oklahoma City to a 243-157 record the past five seasons and reached the playoffs every year. Before his time with the Thunder, he coached for 19 seasons at the University of Florida, winning two NCAA titles.