This offseason, former Florida coach Billy Donovan was front and center for headlines as to whether or not he would return to college basketball. Even while he was still officially the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Donovan was linked to the UNC opening. That never came to fruition, and the Tar Heels wound up hiring former Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
In fact, as of now, Donovan isn’t coming back to college basketball at all, as he has struck a deal that will keep him in the NBA as an assistant coach.
Former Florida coach Billy Donovan to join the San Antonio Spurs
Donovan is set to join the San Antonio Spurs as their lead assistant coach, according to ESPN's Shams Charania and Pete Thamel. Donovan stepped down as Chicago’s coach at the end of the season and had been linked to a number of openings around the league, but has opted to go the assistant route. It will be the first time Donovan has been an assistant coach since 1994, when he was on Kentucky’s staff.
After a legendary run at Florida that culminated in two national titles and four Final Four appearances from 1996 to 2015, Donovan left Gainesville and college basketball to become the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Donovan’s time in the NBA hasn’t quite reached the heights of success he enjoyed in college.
In his first season in the league, Donovan took the Thunder to the Western Conference Finals, where they gave up a 3-1 lead on Golden State and fell in seven games. Since his maiden season in the NBA, Donovan has never advanced past the first round of the playoffs. He left the Thunder after the 2020 season and was hired by Chicago that same year. He went 46-36 in the 2021/22 season, which was his most successful year with the Bulls.
The Bulls made the play-in round of the playoffs in the next three seasons, but failed to advance each time.
This past year, he went 31-51. Chicago publicly indicated it planned to bring Donovan back, but he opted to step down after the season.
Donovan is now 60 years old, and his move to the Spurs could set him up for his most successful NBA season since the 2016 playoffs. The Spurs were the Western Conference champions this past season before losing to the New York Knicks in five games, a series in which San Antonio blew double-digit leads in every game.
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