SAN FRANCISCO – It was a question that led to Billy Donovan going story time.
In the wake of his contract extension leaking out this week, the Bulls coach was asked about his own longevity in the profession and if there was a stop date in mind.
After all, the 57-year-old has been going at it since 1989 when he became an assistant at Kentucky, and what’s been unique about Donovan’s career is he’s never been fired.
A rarity for a coach on any level.
“When I was younger and I first started working, and I was with Coach [Rick] Pitino, he would always say, ‘Hey, 50, 55 years old, that’s it for me, right?’ Here he is 70 still doing it,” Donovan said laughing.
And that’s just one of the reasons Donovan isn’t going to make that same mistake, especially with his current situation with the Bulls and the relationships he has with the front office and ownership.
“I do think as you get older, the years are draining, they are,” Donovan said. “For me, when the year is over with it’s, ‘OK, are you excited about, do you tweak this, tweak that? Did you get better here, get better there?’ Whatever it may be. ‘Coaching, team, what we’re running …’ As long as I’m inspired by that, and enjoy that challenge, I’ve never really put a timeline on it where, ‘This number, I’m done, I don’t care what happens, and that’s it for me.’
“What I love is when you’re with a group of guys on a team and you’re trying to work towards a common goal. There’s a level of sacrifice that goes into that by everybody.”
While Donovan also had a good relationship with his bosses in Oklahoma City, when his contract was up after the 2020 season, a mutual decision was reached to go their separate ways, especially with the Thunder wanting to go young and rebuild.
Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas wasted very little time pursuing Donovan and getting him on board, and with the original contract set to expire after the 2023-24 campaign, the extension was done.
What’s Donovan’s shelf life with the new deal in his mind?
“If that goes where I wake up and it’s, ‘You know what, I don’t like working in this environment, I don’t feel we’re working together, we’re all separated, so far apart.’ That’s when the joy of the job gets totally taken away,” Donovan said. “I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t had that. ‘I’m wiped out, I’m drained, I’ve got a few more years left.’ As long as I continue to enjoy it, I’m going to do it.”
Night watch
It’s been awhile since Zach LaVine and knee load management have appeared in the same sentence, but that doesn’t mean the two-time All-Star has completely moved out of that protocol.
The schedule spreading out like it has just put things on hold.
According to Donovan on Friday, while LaVine has been a full participant in all the recent practices and shootarounds, there is still constant dialogue on his availability in the wake of the offseason left knee surgery.
As long as there are no setbacks, the next real test won’t come for a few weeks, when the Bulls have a back-to-back in Miami and the next night in Atlanta.
“It’s not like every back-to-back he’s going to sit one of them,” Donovan said. “But it’s definitely going to be evaluated. Absolutely.”
LaVine has sat four games so far this season with the load management.