Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Are the Bulls already preventing themselves from a successful executive search?
08 Apr 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good morning. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score joining you on this Wednesday. And that's where we begin. The Michael Reinsdorf press conference yesterday, he took questions for a half an hour in light of firing Arturis Karnaschovas and Mark Eversley. And I feel like... Once again, we talk about the order of operations a lot. It's not just in math problems.
Chapter 2: What were the key points from Michael Reinsdorf's press conference?
I was told there would be no math in this job, and yet there's a lot of math in this job. Order of operations reigns supreme, though, because if you don't follow it, the equation fails. We talk about it a lot in the NFL. When you hear Marshall Harris say,
The head of the Bulls, the owner or at least the acting owner of the Bulls and Michael Reinsdorf talk about how Billy Donovan has to be a part of this if he wants to remain with the team. We still don't know that answer entirely yet because the season is still ongoing. And then also his aversion to perhaps getting more assets, a.k.a. tanking.
I wonder, are the Bulls preventing themselves from embarking on a successful search already? Because they've eliminated so much of the pool of general manager candidates from the very beginning.
I know you were told there would be no math, Layla, but since you bring up the order of operation, I gotta tell you, this isn't inside the brackets. This is inside the parentheses, inside the brackets. That's where Billy Donovan stands right now because...
Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf and the understanding of this family, the way they do things, you can see kind of the similarities after hearing from Jerry talk about the White Sox. And now, Michael, this is a very rare occasion where he's in front of a mic getting to tell his truth, answering questions from reporters, and he lets you know early and strongly worded That Billy Donovan is his guy.
He is a Hall of Famer. And guess what? If Billy Donovan wants to remain with the Bulls, he's going to be with the Bulls. And if he wants to coach the Bulls, he's going to coach the Bulls. And if the guy that comes in and wants to be considered for this job to be the head basketball guy in charge isn't comfortable with that, he's probably, and I'm quoting here, not the candidate for the job.
But listen, Billy Donovan now, everyone's staring at him and waiting for the Bulls regular season to end. Thank goodness it's about to end, by the way.
Yeah, because Billy Donovan won't actually make a decision on anything. And we were told that about the North Carolina job as well until after the season ended. Mercifully, we're down to a couple games. But in the meantime, we are trying to figure out what this means.
Now, here's the hard part about this is when you fire a GM and when you fire the other executives involved, usually it means you're letting go of the coach. That's the hard part. And I feel like what Michael Reinstorf did was try to thread the needle. But I don't know that you can have it both ways in this scenario. This is on no shade on Billy Donovan. I thought he did an incredible job.
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Chapter 3: How is Billy Donovan's role impacting the Bulls' executive search?
The best and the brightest don't do that. They have their own plan with their own people. Now, if Billy Donovan just happens to be the coach that they choose to run it, fine. Why? But there's no way, and I know there's only 30 of these jobs. People talk about the head basketball guy of an NBA team. But if you're telling someone, Billy Donovan's who you have to use as your manager.
We just went through this with the Bears. Remember when Ryan Poles came in? And how did that work out for Ryan Poles? Matty Rufus being quote unquote suggested.
Sir, we've been going through it with the Bears for infinity.
Yeah.
The order goes, this is not PEMDAS, and just in case you forgot, PEMDAS.
Oh, yeah, I love it.
Yeah, it's parentheses, exponential exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. Exponents, I always say exponents, but then it's like, I haven't said that word in a million years, so what? I always say exponential.
It's like vehemence. You don't use it often, but you can break glass in case of emergency.
But the point is, it's PEMDAS. To what exponent, to what power, then you multiply, then you divide, then you add, then you subtract. The order of operations is as follows. Executive, coach, talent. The talent in the NBA is interchangeable to an extent, way more so than in the NFL. But then I got reminded of this while we were talking about it. It's true.
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Chapter 4: What challenges arise from keeping Billy Donovan as head coach?
I know exactly what you're talking about.
We were all the friends going crazy around a person, but we didn't have the person. So we were just like doing that in front of the window to the studio, making faces at Lawrence and Matt yesterday.
That is when he put Billy Donovan unequivocally. Above everybody else. Above everybody else. And he said, that is my ride or die, Billy Donovan.
Ride or die was 100% declared. That is exactly what happened.
If Billy Donovan wants out, fine, because guess what? He's my ride or die. I'll let him do whatever he wants, whether it's stay, whether it's go. We wish him the best. You can run this organization. You can be the top basketball executive in charge if you want to, because you're a Hall of Famer, even though the Hall of Fame laurels largely, if not completely, earned at the collegiate level.
Yes. Yeah, it was because of what he did at Florida. And when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, I believe UConn hadn't won back-to-back yet. So at that point, he was still the reigning coach who had last won back-to-back titles. But it took 20 years and then UConn doing it later. Now, when he says that, I understand why he says that.
I don't think anybody's feelings about Billy Donovan have changed in this. The respect is there from anybody who's watched the team for years. I love talking to Billy Donovan. I learn so much every single day. I listen to his press conferences. The man is a font of information. You feel better having talked to him. But I just don't know that...
An executive is going to necessarily want him to be okay with it. And then what does that say about their power moving forward? Does it create a possible power struggle? You know, that's the other part of this. If there is dissension. Now, Billy Donovan's opinion was the one to respect between Eversley and Karnaschovas and him.
But look at who we're talking about. But look at who we're talking about. And that's part of my problem with this is I understand the respect and I guess awe that Michael Reinsdorf has for Billy Donovan. Because if you hear just how glowingly he talks about him, I get it. But the standard has been so low.
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Chapter 5: How does the Bulls' decision-making process affect their future?
Our video team is Connor O'Donnell, Jacob Stutz, and Max Curtis, along with Cody Westerlin. You can text and call us, 312-GUNS. 644-6767 letters are a number here as we broadcast live from the scores Hyundai studios brought to you by your local Hyundai dealers. When we have breaking news on the score, it is sponsored by IDOT. Speeding in a work zone is a no win. Mind the signs, avoid the fines.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of limiting the candidate pool for the GM position?
So let's hear from Billy. And let's get into the other part of this as well. To tank or not to tank, or at least fake tank or pretend. We know it when we hear it. So we'll do that next.
Someone's not interested in that, then they're probably not the right candidate for us.