The Chicago Bulls have announced that Billy Donovan will be the team’s next head coach.
The 55-year-old coach comes to Chicago after spending five fairly successful seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder. During Donovan’s tenure in Oklahoma City, the team went to the playoffs in five straight seasons and had a winning percentage of .608.
There are only three active coaches who currently have a better winning percentage than Donovan; Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich, and Nick Nurse.
In his first season with the Thunder, the team won 55 games and went to the Western Conference Finals. He is the only coach in NBA history who came from the collegiate ranks to coach and won 100 games in his first two seasons in the NBA.
Before coming to the NBA, Donovan coached at the University of Florida for 19 years and won back-to-back National Championships in 2006 and 2007.
Donovan also had a short stint in the NBA as a player. He was drafted by the Utah Jazz in 1987 and played a total of 44 games professionally with the New York Knicks in 1987-88.
The Bulls only had 22 wins this season and finished third in their division, firing coach Jim Boylen after two seasons.
