The fate of Steve Kerr's future at the Golden State Warriors could be decided in the next week, but the franchise may already have his successor waiting in plain sight should the 4x championship-winning head coach walk away after 12 seasons.
According to Sports Illustrated' Chris Mannix and Rachel Nichols, long-time NBA head coach Billy Donovan is just waiting on a Warriors job opening after he stepped down from his role at the Chicago Bulls earlier in the week.
Billy Donovan is waiting for Steve Kerr's decision on Warriors role
Going from a rebuilding Bulls team to a Stephen Curry-led Warrior squad would certainly appeal to Donovan, even if there's major pessimism on the team's ability to get back to title contention after an injury-hit season resulted in missing the playoffs.
Speaking on Sports Illustrated's Open Floor NBA Show, Nichols outlined how going coaching Curry and Golden State could still trump other opportunities that Donovan might get after leaving Chicago.
“If I'm Billy Donovan, and I have coached college and the NBA, and I've coached this person and this person, I would love to coach Steph Curry," Nichols said. If I'm a coach, I want to go coach Michael Jordan or LeBron James or Steph Curry or any of these top five all-time, top 10 all-time guys. I just, why wouldn't you?”
Donovan has been in the league for the past 11 seasons, spending his first five years at the Oklahoma City Thunder which included the monumental Western Conference Finals battle against the Warriors in 2016.
Before his time in the NBA, Donovan spent nearly 20 years as head coach of the Florida Gators, winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007 with current Warrior big man Al Horford. A Donovan-Horford reunion would be quite remarkable given it would be 20 years since that first NCAA title.
Billy Donovan hiring might not be the best pathway for the Warriors
The question might not be whether Donovan wants to coach the Warriors, but rather if the franchise should be considering him as Kerr's replacement? Donovan certainly brings immense experience, something Golden State likely needs rather than going down the unproven route during the final years of Stephen Curry's career.
However, Donovan's NBA coaching record is far from spectacular. Since that run to the West Finals in 2016, Donovan-led teams haven't won a single playoff series in the last decade, while the Bulls made the playoffs just once in his six seasons at the franchise.
Perhaps that has more to do with the different rosters at his disposal over the past 10 years, but it still puts some doubt on whether Donovan is truly the right person to replace Kerr should he depart.
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