Opinion: No surprise that Billy Donovan resigned as the Bulls head coach

Billy Donovan (Google Images)

According to Shams Charania of ESPN on Tuesday, Billy Donovan of Rockville Centre has resigned as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. The resignation comes at a time when the Bulls fired president Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley before the end of the 2025-26 National Basketball Association regular season.

Donovan’s firing should not be that much of a surprise because of the struggles the Bulls have had in recent years. In the six seasons while Donovan was the Bulls head coach, Chicago made the postseason only once. That came in 2021-22, as Chicago finished sixth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 46 wins and 36 losses, but lost in five games to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

In 482 games coaching the Bulls since being named to the position on September 22, 2020, Donovan only had a regular season record of 226 wins and 246 losses for a winning percentage of .469.  That was a significant drop off to his success as head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder where he had great success. In 400 games at OKC from 2015 to 2020, Donovan had a record of 243 wins and 157 losses for a winning percentage of .608.

It is highly expected that Donovan will return to coaching basketball. It will just be at the collegiate level where he will be best remembered as a head coach. Donovan has a NCAA record of 502 wins and 206 losses for a great winning percentage of .709. Donovan also won back-to-back NCAA Division I Championships with the University of Florida Gators from in 2006 and 2007.