The San Antonio Spurs have added Billy Donovan to their coaching staff, according to ESPN. Donovan, who stepped down as the coach of the Chicago Bulls in April, will reportedly be Mitch Johnson's lead assistant.
Donovan, a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's class of 2025, reportedly interviewed with the Orlando Magic before they hired Sean Sweeney. Weeks before that, the University of North Carolina was reportedly interested in hiring him, but Donovan wouldn't engage with UNC (or any other interested college programs) until the end of the NBA season, by which point Michael Malone had already been named coach of the Tar Heels.
In San Antonio, the 61-year-old Donovan will be an assistant coach for the first time in more than three decades. He began his coaching career under Rick Pitino at Kentucky, but left for a head-coaching job at Marshall in 1994. After two years there and 19 years at Florida (where he won two national championships), he made the jump to the NBA in 2015. Donovan spent five years with the Oklahoma City Thunder and six with the Bulls, accumulating a 469-413 record.
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The Thunder reached the postseason in all five of Donovan's seasons, but the Bulls had just one playoff berth under his watch. That came in the 2021-22 season and resulted in a first-round exit. Chicago failed to reach the postseason or finish with a winning record in Donovan's last four years. Nonetheless, the Bulls, after significant front-office changes, said they wanted Donovan to return as their coach next season. He decided to pursue other options instead.
"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. "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."
Donovan will now fill the role vacated by Sweeney, who was Johnson's lead assistant last season as the Spurs marched all the way to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the New York Knicks in five games. It was Johnson's first season as San Antonio's full-time head coach. The 39-year-old assumed the role on an interim basis after longtime coach Gregg Popovich had a stroke in 2024-25.
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