“While we will handle any conversations about the coaching staff the same way we always do at the end of the season, I wanted to be very clear: We want Billy to continue to be the coach of the Chicago Bulls. At the end of the day, this is about bringing in a new leader for our basketball team that can build a winning team that our fans can be proud of.”When pressed more about the issue, Reinsdorf doubled down with a telling response, sparing Donovan from a lot of the Bulls’ struggles and noting Donovan’s induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame last September.“If I’m interviewing someone and they're not sold on Billy and they’re not sold on a Hall of Fame coach, they’re not sold on a person who has won championships in college, who’s gone deep in playoffs in Oklahoma City, who I believe with the Chicago Bulls every year, given the team he was given, he achieved really good results — not the results we wanted, but that was not because of Billy,” Reinsdorf said.

“So if someone is not interested in Billy as our coach and Billy wants to be our coach, and someone is not interested in that they are probably not the right candidate for us.”Reinsdorf said at the time that they would sit down with Donovan after the end of the season and “find out where his head is at” — whether he wanted to wait for a new general manager and front office that he may or may not get along with, or move on. In the end, Donovan chose the latter.Donovan leaves the Bulls after six seasons, with the team only making the playoffs once (2021-22) in the span. Donovan’s time in Chicago began after he was hired away from the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he led them to five straight postseason appearances in five seasons at the helm.This story is being updated.