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Chapter 1: Why did Billy Donovan step down as head coach of the Bulls?
The views and opinions of Layla Rahimi, Marshall Harris, and Mark Grody should not be taken too seriously. Especially when they give advice. Do not take Marshall's analogies literally. Especially when it comes to Russell Dorsey. The sports thoughts of Rahimi, Harris, and Grody may change at any time. It's just sports. Okay, thanks, bye.
Rahimi Harrison-Grody, 10-2 on 104.3 The Score. Great America is indeed in gurney, so thank you to all of the texters who were very pleased to correct me on that. I also tried to correct you, but it was in the midst of everyone talking at the same time, so it's okay. I tried to jump in with the gurney. Was that a little passive-aggressive, Ray, right there?
I tried to, but everybody was just talking at the same time. He didn't want to break up the flow. I get it, Ray. I appreciate you, Ray. I'll never complain about you correcting anybody. I also said gurney.
Don't gurney.
It's okay to correct me, guys.
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Chapter 2: What were the reactions of the hosts to Donovan's departure?
I know you guys are always, like, a little nervous around me. But, Ray, just jump on that microphone.
Mr. Grody, it's actually Gurney. I'm deeply sorry, master. Listen, four hours of live radio, there's going to be some misspoken things.
You didn't know what you were doing, Mr. Gower. do you remember that scene and uh it's a wonderful life though where young george bailey goes back to to the gower shop or gower was drunk a drunken old fool and he slaps little george bailey on the ear because little george bailey was telling me he did something wrong to
look what you did you didn't know you did it you didn't know you did it mr gower you got the telegram and you're upset you put something bad in those capsules it wasn't your fault mr gower Just look and see what you did. The bottle you took the bottle from, it's poison. I tell you, it's poison. I know you feel bad.
So we start saying, oh, Grody, oh, Grody. Yeah, yeah. That was great.
Mr. Grody, we're sorry you made a mistake. We'll never tell you again.
I'm going to tell you every time if I hear it. No, that's okay. That's okay.
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Chapter 3: How did Donovan's tenure impact the Chicago Bulls?
That's part of the deal that we have on this show. You know I love Six Flags, so there's that. Oh, absolutely. Shout out to Libertyville. I am honored to announce that we are changing the name of our town to Libertyville. Welcome to Libertyville. Layla Rahimi, Marshall Harris, Mark Grody. Middays, 10 a.m. to 2 on Chicago Sports Radio 104.3, The Score.
Not the Hellas Harbor remix. Oh, man. We are happy to join you on this Tuesday. This is Rahimi Harris and Brody Layla Rahimi and Marshall Harris with you. And we have breaking news to start our show. This in the past half hour 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. Billy Donovan.
is stepping down from the Bulls. The Bulls' exact terminology is that he stepped away as head coach, which we didn't know what was going to happen. Here is the biggest quote that was issued, this from the press release. Shyam Sharani reporting it earlier.
After a series of thoughtful and extensive discussions with ownership regarding the future of the organization, I decided to step away as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls to allow the search process to unfold. I believe it is in the best interest of the Bulls to allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit. My gratitude for this community and this organization is permanent.
Thank you, Jerry Reinsdorf and Michael Reinsdorf for giving me this opportunity. And more importantly, for the relationship that has been forged. I was so blessed to be able to work with such great owners. I owe so much to my players and staff over the last six years. You all have worked side by side with me day in and day out to drive the Bulls organization forward.
And a huge thank you to Bulls fans. Your energy, passion, and unwavering support provided a home court advantage that is generally unmatched around the league. Marshall, I feel like Billy took one for the team.
Bulls fans have to be believing that their prayers have been answered with this news because we knew that it was headed down a very difficult, not impossible, but very difficult road to navigate if the head coach is allowed to stay and then you bring in executive leadership above him that he has... a say in to a degree, because that's what Michael Reinsdorf outlined that would happen.
And that was their hope. And their wish is that Billy Donovan would continue to be the head coach. They would go out, they would find a GM or a vice president or president of basketball operations who saw fit to work with Billy Donovan, because in their minds, if you don't want to work with Billy Donovan and I'm quoting here, uh,
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Chapter 4: What does the future hold for the Bulls after Donovan's exit?
you're probably not the right candidate for the job. Those are scary thoughts.
And so Billy Donovan in ducking out and now doing whatever it is he wants to do, and I wish Billy the best in whatever route he decides to embark on after this Bulls job, he's giving the Bulls a chance to clear everything out, a real reset in that whoever comes in now can bring their staff as far as front office and hire the coaches that they want to lead this team into its next iteration.
Yeah, you and I talked about this was we were trying to figure out if you're searching for a GM, how much your candidate pool gets limited. Understanding that I believe in the Reinsdorf's eyes and Michael's eyes that he didn't want to punish Billy Donovan for being functional in a dysfunctional atmosphere.
where there wasn't a clear direction when it came to understanding what Arturas Karnaschovas and Mark Eversley was doing, where Billy was trying to coach the players to still win, he was still trying to do his job. Now, in the greater picture of it is tanking and understanding what that looks like in the NBA. And the coach has to play along with that.
I'm not implying that there was dissonance, but I am pointing out that Billy Donovan doesn't do that. He didn't do that. He's wired to win games. You saw it day in and day out with no matter who the talent was. And then we also saw how that played out on the court. So I was always under the impression that, that they didn't want to fire him because that is still, as an employer, a punishment.
But it just made for a process that was going to be really tricky when it came to finding somebody because the first criteria would have therefore been, are you okay with Billy Donovan being the head coach? And then you and I said, well, the next logical thing that has to happen is in order for this to be a smoother process, he would have to step away.
I sincerely believe he did this for the good of the team. And after the year that he had had, where he had had multiple deaths in his family, where he had had a very tumultuous and traumatic year off of the court and then had to deal with what was going on on it, I could understand why he would want to step away. That was always a question I had before whatever happened with the front office.
Did he want to be here? And true to his word, he took the time, waited for the season to end. And now we understand after six seasons, he's no longer here.
I think my biggest question, Layla, is looking at the way that these statements are out, the way that Jerry Reinsdorf, Michael Reinsdorf both talked about this being a mutual decision after some tough conversations. Is this about Billy Donovan not wanting to be a part of a rebuild? And let's be honest, they... They've been rebuilding in the four years they haven't made the playoffs.
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Chapter 5: How does the Bulls' front office plan to proceed with a new head coach?
They were going through a rebuild that Joelle Lorenzi and we have talked about extensively. In fact, Joelle, the writer for The Athletic, will be on with us in our next segment at 1025. We will talk Cubs. That will happen with Ian Happ at 1125. We'll get to Caleb Williams' comments at 1045 and at 11. Got all that? We don't, so just write along with us.
In the meantime, we talked to Joelle Lorenzi about this, and the reason Billy Donovan even was here was because Oklahoma City was going through a time of massive transition. where we see them win fewer than 25 games in two very painful years. You and I have discussed that extensively.
So if you're considering Billy Donovan's background in getting here, knowing that he may have not outright said he didn't want to be a part of a rebuild, but his actions indicated that there was a better opportunity for him at the time to win and make the playoffs in Chicago, which he did. You could argue that Bulls didn't go far enough in making that happen, but that's outside of him.
So he gets to call his shots. He's already a Hall of Famer. He's already won titles. He's done so remarkably for the college part of his career. Gets here, spends six years.
sees how this thing falls apart at the very end, and then is offered or at least considered to be either part of a Brad Stevens type of role where he moves up into the front office or he's in a role where he becomes more of a factor in how the Bulls move forward as the future. He had everything in front of him. and decided at 60 years old, this isn't what I want to do right now and steps away.
That is the most honest place I could think of to be in when it comes to all of this.
I think another thing, if we're being honest, the Bulls, as they go through their rebuild, unlike that Oklahoma City team, that team that didn't win 25 games in back-to-back seasons, at least you had a future MVP on the roster in Shea Gilchrist Alexander.
That doesn't plainly sit in front of you on this Bulls team in a year in which, yes, they have a couple of draft picks, including a chance at winning the lottery, or at least moving up to the top of that lottery. I think for Billy Donovan now... the opportunity comes, hey, let's see what shakes out around the rest of the NBA.
We know Doc Rivers just said he's done coaching basketball in Milwaukee. We know that there's other cities with good players who, let's be honest, if they don't go deep enough in the playoffs, leadership may change. Billy Donovan now might have his pick of jobs to choose from where he doesn't have to do any of the things we've just been talking about.
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Chapter 6: What challenges did Donovan face during his time with the Bulls?
And that's why I wasn't as big on the, was this an internal power play? And I think given the Bulls history as a franchise, I understand why that's an incredibly reasonable question to ask. I think it had more to do with the Bulls affording him the opportunity to call it on his terms, given that he was not the wrong part of all of this.
I want to read you something from Jerry Reinsdorf and part of the PR statement today, which includes quotes from both Jerry Reinsdorf, his son Michael Reinsdorf, and Billy Donovan himself. But this, to me, sums it up, right? We wanted Billy to continue as our head coach. That was never in question.
And who's giving that quote?
This is Jerry Reinsdorf. But through honest conversation, we all agreedā that giving our new head of basketball operations the right to build out his staff was the most important thing for the future of this franchise. This is the kind of person Billy is. He put the Bulls first. We are deeply grateful for everything he has given to this organization."
And I really believe that Billy Donovan had to explain to Jerry Reinsdorf and Michael Reinsdorf why... Having him there with a new lead executive was just a bad idea. That is counter what you just heard me read about what Jerry Reinsdorf said, Layla, to what Michael Reinsdorf said just over a week ago.
309 asked the question, am I reading too much into the actual verbiage or do the words stepping aside rather than stepping down leave the possibility open that the new front office may still want Billy to coach the team? Let's examine the press release a little bit further because I think you and I, Marshall, feel like this is a little more definite.
It doesn't sound like the window would be open there. When Michael Reinsdorf also ends, his comments was saying we are grateful for everything he has given to this team and wish Billy and his family all the best. Now, you know, knowing knowing if you've observed Reinsdorf friend franchises for the past, for me, 11 years now, almost 11 and counting.
You know that this is probably as strong language as you're going to get. But I didn't necessarily think that there's a window still open. I feel like if it were, that would have been outlined in these statements.
Yeah, I think somebody would have spoken to that. I mean... I look at the way that Michael Reinsdorf said it. We are grateful for everything he has given to this team and wish Billy and his family all the best. That sounds like a guy leaving. Like, gone.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of a rebuild for the Bulls' roster?
His passion for the sport comes through with the way he's so thoughtful in every answer that he gives, regardless of the topic concerning his time at the Bulls and what he was trying to do, what the players as individuals were trying to do, what the organizational goals were. Because we know who was not available to talk about those things over the course of the regular season.
Right. And front office didn't. Arturis Karnaschovas and Mark Eversley left that to Billy Donovan. And now that the direction is completely wide open for the Bulls. This is the hard part.
That would be a no.
Joe Kelly also putting out his article today at the Sun-Times, by the way. Bulls coach Billy Donovan steps away after six seasons at the helm. And he had an interesting quote in here, Marshall, that I think is worth listening to or reading right here on 104.3 The Score. He goes back to a couple of quotes that he had weeks ago.
When I got into coaching, I never did it for the muddy piece of it, and I never really did it for notoriety. I loved the game, I loved competing, and I felt like outside my parents, the people who had the most influence on me in my life were the guys that coached me. I never really thought, hey, listen, I'm going to get into coaching because I want to be in the Hall of Fame.
I wanted to get into coaching to win in the competing part and try to get a group of guys to compete. So I never looked at it from a legacy standpoint as much as the season comes to an end. How are we going to work to get into a place where we're really competing and how do we build this out moving forward? Those are the things we need to talk about.
That didn't sound like somebody who wanted to be part of a rebuild where we don't necessarily know what the assets are and we don't necessarily know what the direction is yet.
312 on the text line may have summed it up best. This ain't Bruno Mars. He ain't leaving the door open. That's how I take this also.
I think, and we want to get into this in five on it at noon. We've got a lot to talk about today. As I mentioned, we will get into Cubs. That was going to lead our show because Colin Ray, Colin Ray deserves better from us as a team. So we will acknowledge his performance in the defense with Ian Happ at 1125.
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Chapter 8: Who might be potential candidates for the Bulls' head coaching position?
Holler at your people.
Last I heard, they had a head coach who had front office experience who might be looking for a new opportunity.
Oh, my God. Do you really think Steve Kerr would...
A. I can't stop being aroused.
I'm reminded of the Bruce Levine question to Rick Hahn at the winter meetings. This is like 2017 or something where he asked if something was titillating and Hahn was like, whoa. Watch out.
Don't you think this would be the appropriate challenge for a guy who had the fortune of playing through multiple dynasties in two places, San Antonio and Chicago?
Does Steve Kerr want to be part of a rebuild?
Well, but he can build it in his own image. That's the whole thing. I think that's what's so attractive.
Didn't he kind of do that with the dude shooting threes up in the Bay Area?
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