LOS ANGELES – The Chicago Bulls named Billy Donovan as the team’s new head coach on Tuesday, replacing Jim Boylen who was fired last month after the franchise’s latest failure to make the playoffs.
Donovan, 55, joins the Bulls after parting company with the Oklahoma City Thunder by mutual agreement earlier this month after his team were eliminated from the postseason.
“We are very pleased to welcome Billy and his family to the Chicago Bulls,” Chicago Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas said in a statement.
“The success that he has sustained over the course of his coaching career puts him on a different level. We feel his ability to help his players reach their potential; both individually and collectively, will mesh well with our roster.”
“Whether as a player or as a coach, he has won everywhere his career has taken him, and we hope that will continue here in Chicago.”
Donovan heads to Chicago after a broadly successful five-year stint with the Thunder.
The team compiled a winning record during his reign, with 243 victories against 157 defeats, and made five consecutive trips to the postseason.
This season he was named coach of the year alongside Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer by the National Basketball Coaches Association.
The Bulls have failed to reach the playoffs for the past three seasons, and have not appeared in an NBA Finals since the 1997-1998 season when Michael Jordan led the franchise to victory over the Utah Jazz. – AFP, September 23, 2020
