Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan is leaving the iconic franchise. After spending six seasons with the Bulls, Donovan’s exit comes less than 10 days after Chicago finished their regular season with a 31-51 record.
The team made the official announcement on Tuesday following Donovan’s meeting with ownership about the future of the organization. Donovan’s exit prompted plenty of responses from the NBA world.
Billy Donovan’s Decision to Part Ways With the Chicago Bulls Draws Strong Reactions
NBA YouTuber Kenny Beecham wasn’t surprised by the news that Donovan is moving on.
“There it is,” he wrote. “New front office and coach search for the Bulls over the next few months.”
Barstool Sports’ Dan Katz (Big Cat) shared his thoughts as a big Bulls fan: “Win-Win. Bulls win by being forced to actually do the right thing and hire a new Front Office that can pick their own coach. Billy wins by no longer having to be associated with the trash fire that is the Bulls’ ownership.”
Win-Win.
Bulls win by being forced to actually do the right thing and hire a new Front Office that can pick their own coach.
Billy wins by no longer having to be associated with the trash fire that is the Bulls ownership. https://t.co/BfU9gEazXR
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) April 21, 2026
“If he wants to coach in the NBA still, I feel like there’s some good spots for him. Makes me think if he did this earlier, he’d be the UNC coach,” said podcaster Matthew Geist.
The account Bulls Central argued that this was a much-needed move. “And there it is. Needed to be done for a total reset,” the post read.
“Add a coaching hire to the long list of things the Bulls have to do this summer,” said Bulls reporter Will Gottlieb.
Add a coaching hire to the long list of things the Bulls have to do this summer https://t.co/dQxQzFNFUf
— Will Gottlieb (@Will_Gottlieb) April 21, 2026
This wasn’t a shock, as Donovan had hinted at a potential departure.
“I never really thought, ‘Hey, listen, I’m going to get into coaching because I want to be in the Hall of Fame,'” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I wanted to get into coaching to win and the competing part, and trying to get a group of guys how to compete, so I never looked at it from a legacy standpoint as much as the season comes to an end, how are we going to work to get into a place where we’re really competing and how do we build this out moving forward? Those are the things that we need to talk about.”
The Bulls had a forgettable end to their 2025-26 season, winning just 31 games. They last made the playoffs during the 2021-22 season, when they were handed a first-round exit by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The summer sees the Bulls in a better place with cap space, draft capital, and potential stars in Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis. However, this will be a pivotal offseason for Chicago given that they need to rebuild not only their roster but also the front office and coaching staff.
