Billy Donovan steps away as Chicago Bulls head coach after six years

Billy Donovan steps away as Chicago Bulls head coach after six years

When the Chicago Bulls fired their top front office executives Arturas Karnisova and Marc Eversley recently, ownership said whoever was going to be hired had to fit and work with coach Billy Donovan, who wasn't going anywhere.

That's not how Donovan saw it — if the Bulls were cleaning house, then the new front office should have a clean slate. After meeting with ownership and then having "extensive dialogue" with it, Billy Donovan has chosen to step away as Chicago Bulls head coach (he had an option in his contract for next season).

"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 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. My gratitude for this community and this organization is permanent."

"We wanted Billy to continue as our head coach - that was never in question," team owner Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement announcing the change. "But through honest conversations, we all agreed that giving our new Head of Basketball Operations the right to build out his staff was the most important thing for the future of this franchise. That is the kind of person Billy is — he put the Bulls first. We are deeply grateful for everything he has given to this organization."

The Bulls will now finish their search for a new head of basketball operations, then allow that person to hire their coach.

Donovan had left a trail of breadcrumbs that his exit might be coming, considering some of his public comments. The fact that no matter who came in as the Bulls' next GM, this was going to be a multi-year retooling project — something he felt he had been in since he came to Chicago — weighed on him.