Billy Donovan agreed to become the lead assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs under head coach Mitch Johnson, ESPN reported Thursday, the first coaching move of the 61-year-old's post-Bulls career and one that places him alongside the most exciting young team in basketball rather than back in a head coaching seat.
Donovan stepped down from the Chicago Bulls in April after six seasons and a 226-256 record, opting not to take the team option on his final year.
He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2025, recognized for two national championships at Florida in 2006 and 2007 and an NBA head coaching resume that also includes five seasons in Oklahoma City where he went 243-157 and made the playoffs every year.
The Spurs pursued him specifically for his experience on both ends of the floor and his institutional knowledge of the NBA, not to replicate Sean Sweeney, whose defense he took to third in the league last season before Sweeney left to become head coach in Orlando.
Donovan and Mitch Johnson also share a personal connection, Johnson coached alongside Donovan's son Billy III at San Antonio's G League affiliate in Austin back in 2017.
Donovan was a finalist for the Orlando head coaching job that Sweeney ultimately took, and the New York Knicks had interest in him last offseason.
He chose San Antonio, Victor Wembanyama's Spurs, fresh off their first NBA Finals appearance since 2014, now adding Tobias Harris, Jayden Quaintance and a Hall of Fame assistant coach to the staff.
The Spurs are building something. Donovan wants to be part of it.