Coaching in his blood: Donovan family business extends to Windy City Bulls
Billy Donovan III, head coach of the Windy City Bulls, lived the typical coach's kid existence growing up.
He spent afternoons shooting at an empty basket on the practice court, careful to secure the ball and not make noise when the coach paused the workout to address the team.
Donovan, of course, is son of the Bulls bench boss with the same name. BD3, as he is sometimes known, is in his first season coaching the Bulls' G-League entry in Hoffman Estates. His dad spent 19 years at the University of Florida before moving to the NBA, so that's where Donovan III spent most of his life.
There was a brief period, though, when Donovan decided to try life away from Gainesville and Gators basketball. He spent his first two years of college at Division III Catholic University in Washington D.C.
Donovan says he's never really had a job outside of basketball. But there were some internships. During college, he spent time with a lobbying firm, interned for Florida senator Marco Rubio and also the Department of Homeland Security.
“I always had interest in politics and government service and that kind of stuff,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to have some internships, which made me realize, 'I don't know if I want to do this.'”
At Rubio's office, he would give tours of the U.S. Capitol building, answer calls from constituents — some friendly, some not — and chat with the senator about Gators sports.
“The lobbying firm was really cool, because they would develop weapons for the Air Force and Navy,” Donovan said. “So you got a chance to go on Capitol Hill to budget meetings and you'd see all these generals and admirals and officers and kind of see how the lobbying community works and what that realm's like.”
After his brush with the U.S. Government, Donovan decided his best path was to return to Gainesville and finish college as a Florida walk-on, playing for his dad, which he admits was challenging at first.
“Being the coach's kid, you kind of have to build the trust of the other guys on the team,” he said, “because they kind of think you're the Fed; I'm going to run to my dad every chance I get to snitch or tattle on them or whatever it is.
“I really had to humble myself to get in good graces and trust with those guys. It ended up being one of the best experiences I ever had.”
Donovan discovered the best way to bond with his Florida teammates was to channel his inner Tom Thibodeau and lead them through late-night workouts. Even though he was a benchwarmer on the Gators' 2014 Final Four team, it's possible Donovan's extra practice sessions helped guys like Dorian Finney-Smith and Casey Prather develop the skills needed for the tournament run.
After college Donovan got married, bought a house in Gainesville and spent two years teaching high school history. Technically, that was a non-basketball job, but of course he also coached at the school.
But the player development side of basketball stuck with him, and he took on a role as an operations assistant for the G-League's Austin Spurs.
“Besides player development, I was also working with travel, equipment, laundry,” Donovan said. “You name it, I was doing it. I loved every second of it. We also won the G-League championship my first year.”
After two seasons in Austin, he spent a year with the Phoenix Suns in the video department. When his dad accepted the Bulls job in 2020, Donovan moved to Chicago and spent three years as a video coordinator before becoming head coach of Windy City.
Donovan, 32, acknowledges it's a significant jump from the video room to head coach. But at least he's got a direct line to the coaches office of the NBA Bulls.
“I think it's been a great experience for him,” the elder Donovan said. “I think his job and responsibility is to help develop, lead, guide those younger guys. I think it's something he's kind of embraced and enjoyed going through.”
The G-League is broken into different segments, starting with an early-season tournament. In the regular-season portion, Windy City had a 5-4 record heading into Saturday's game against the Westchester Knicks. Those teams meet again on Monday afternoon at Now Arena.
Windy City will run the same basic game plans as the NBA Bulls, but Donovan III says his dad gives him the freedom to try whatever works.
“There's this notion in the G-League, you always have to run exactly what the big club's running,” Donovan said. “My dad is like, 'Our personnel is totally different. Why would you run the same things I'm running for Vuc (Nikola Vucevic) when you don't have someone like Vuc?' If you want to try something, try something.”
Donovan has tried a few things, but he always returns to the family business.