The Bulls have another Hall of Fame coach.
Phil Jackson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007, and Jerry Sloan joined that elite group in 2009.
Doug Collins, who coached the Bulls from 1986 to 1989, made the Hall in 2024 as a contributor.
Now you can put Billy Donovan’s name in that exclusive circle.
Donovan, whose selection was announced Saturday, put his name on the map as a guard for Providence’s Final Four team in 1987, then turned to coaching and had 467 victories at Florida and won back-to-back national championships with the Gators.
He moved on to the NBA and had a 243-157 record with the Thunder, leading them to the Western Conference finals in 2015-16. He shared the Michael H. Goldberg NBCA Coach of the Year Award with Mike Budenholzer in 2019-20.
He joined the Bulls for the 2020-21 season after he and the Thunder mutually parted ways.
Donovan was named a Hall of Fame finalist earlier this year and found out his fate Friday.
“I was at a shootaround, and they said they were going to call between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., so I had my phone with me, and we were finishing the shootaround, and I was ready to do an interview with our radio guy [Chuck Swirsky], and I looked down, and it said Hall of Fame,” Donovan said on a TV interview. “I said, ‘OK, this is going to go one of two ways.’ They gave me the news, and I was obviously thrilled and humbled and incredibly grateful.”
Besides Donovan, the Hall welcomed in Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, the 2008 U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team, Sue Bird, Maya Moore, former Sky center Sylvia Fowles, Heat managing general partner Micky Arison and longtime NBA referee Danny Crawford.
“From a coaching perspective, when you’re sitting up here, you’re really only as good as the people around you,” Donovan said.
Donovan only has gotten the Bulls to the playoffs once — in the 2021-22 season — but he might be doing his best coaching job this season after losing DeMar DeRozan and Alex Caruso last summer and Zach LaVine on Feb. 2.
There was an initial rock-bottom phase after the LaVine deal — the Bulls lost six in a row — but they’ve gone 14-13 since he was sent to the Kings in a three-team trade, including an 11-6 record in March.
Donovan completely changed the team’s offensive style from previous seasons. He went from a more methodical approach with a focus on efficiency to an up-tempo, run-and-gun style. The Bulls are second in pace (they were 28th last season) and third in three-point shots per game (42.2) after finishing 26th last season (32.1 three-point shots per game).
Donovan already had his jersey retired in February by Providence, so a season of good individual fortune continues.
“As you kind of look through this stuff, I’ve been fortunate that I learned from an unbelievable coach in coach [Rick] Pitino, maybe the best one out there, and he gave me an opportunity,” Donovan said. “I think about the assistant coaches that work with me, players that made the decision to come play at Florida when maybe at that point it wasn’t a great deal.
“Yes, it is an individual honor, but there are a lot of people that helped me get to this point that I’m grateful to.”