Kari AndersonContributing writerTue, April 21, 2026 at 2:41 PM UTC·3 min readFollowing a major shakeup in the Chicago Bulls front office, head coach Billy Donovan is departing the team after six seasons at the helm, the team announced Tuesday.
“After a series of thoughtful and extensive discussions with ownership regarding the future of the organization, I have decided to step away as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, to allow the search process to unfold,” Donovan, 60, said in a statement.
“I believe it is in the best interest of the Bulls, to allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit.”
He added: “My gratitude for this community and this organization is permanent.”
Billy Donovan is stepping away as head coach. pic.twitter.com/Up6S6dd5tL
The move comes after Chicago fired vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas and general manager Marc Eversley, making a major front office change with the Bulls finishing up their fourth straight losing season under the duo. Karnišovas, Eversley and Donovan were all hired in 2020, as part of the last major overhaul in Chicago.
In the wake of firing Karnišovas and Eversley, Bulls president Michael Reinsdorf made it clear that the team wanted to keep Donovan on going forward.
“Billy is a Hall of Fame coach who not only has my respect, but the respect of the entire organization and locker room,” Reinsdorf said in a press conference after the announcement. “While we will handle any conversations about the coaching staff the same way we always do at the end of the season, I wanted to be very clear: We want Billy to continue to be the coach of the Chicago Bulls. At the end of the day, this is about bringing in a new leader for our basketball team that can build a winning team that our fans can be proud of.”
When pressed more about the issue, Reinsdorf doubled down with a telling response, sparing Donovan from a lot of the Bulls’ struggles and noting Donovan’s induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last September.
“If I’m interviewing someone and they're not sold on Billy and they’re not sold on a Hall of Fame coach, they’re not sold on a person who has won championships in college, who’s gone deep in playoffs in Oklahoma City, who I believe with the Chicago Bulls every year, given the team he was given, he achieved really good results — not the results we wanted, but that was not because of Billy,” Reinsdorf said. “So if someone is not interested in Billy as our coach and Billy wants to be our coach, and someone is not interested in that they are probably not the right candidate for us.”
Reinsdorf said at the time that they would sit down with Donovan after the end of the season and “find out where his head is at” — whether he wanted to wait for a new general manager and front office that he may or may not get along with, or move on. In the end, Donovan chose the latter.
Donovan leaves the Bulls after a six-year run, with the team only making the playoffs once (2021-22) in that span. Donovan’s time in Chicago began after he was hired away from the Oklahoma City Thunder, whom he led to the postseason in each of his five seasons leading the charge in OKC.