More teams in NBA should be courting Gators coach Donovan
We should not be at all surprised that Billy Donovan has been contacted by a few waywardNBA franchises.
What should surprise us is that every NBA team in need of a coach hasn’t made a run at the University of Florida’s living legend.
Donovan admitted earlier thisweek that he has spoken about coaching vacancies with a “couple ofNBA teams”— teams believed to be the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
My question is this: If they haven’t already, why haven’t the Los Angeles Lakers and theNewYork Knicks made Donovan theirNo. 1 coaching priority?
Instead, the Knicks got rejected by SteveKerr, whowas hired by the Golden StateWarriors, and the Lakers are reportedly interested in— wait for it … Derek Fisher! Good grief, Kerr and Fisher are two formerNBA players who have never coached a day in their lives. Actually, Fisher isn’t
even a formerNBAplayer yet. He is a reserve point guard for Oklahoma City who is expected to retire when the Thunder’s playoff run is over.
Are you kidding? Two of theNBA’s marquee organizations are courtingKerr and Fisher while Donovan is beingwooed by yucky franchises in Cleveland and Minnesota? And you wonderwhy the Lakers and the Knicks are in the shape they’re in? Donovan has built an elite program at whatwas once a college basketball cemetery. Just think what he could do at NBAhotbeds such as L.A. andNewYork.
Don’t getmewrong, I don’t think Donovan should jump to theNBA. I think hewould be a fool to leaveUF, a place where he has created and molded a program in his own image; a place where he is revered and beloved; a place where they likely will name the gym after him someday. However, I also think the people running the Lakers and the Knicks are a bunch of fools for not at least making a run at Donovan.
Especially the Knicks, a team Donovan idolized as a kid growing up on Long Island, N.Y. When I asked Donovan about the Knicks during UF’s Final Four run this past season, he didn’t hide his profound fondness for the team.
“I love the Knicks,” Donovan said. “I grew up buying $5 tickets atMadison Square Garden and sneakingmyway down as close as I could to the court.”
While many Gators fans are convinced Donovan is a lifer in Gainesville, I’m not necessarily buying it. He has never shut the door completely on coaching in theNBAand has admitted many times there are certain aspects of college coaching he doesn’t like and certain aspects ofNBA coaching he does.
“The intriguing part of theNBAtomeis just the fact that it’s basketball 24 hours a day,” Donovan said back inMarch. “All you’re dealing with is basketball. There’s a lot more that goes into a college coaching job other than the coaching part of it. There are a lot of other things youhave todo.”
Formy money, Donovan does those things better than any college coach in the game right now. No, he is not as great all-time as Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, but he’s certainly done more with less in recent years than Coach Khas. Not only that, but Donovanwatches and follows theNBAgame and has a style of coaching that translates to theNBAlevel.
His good friend, former NBAcoach JeffVan Gundy, is convinced Donovan would be a success on the professional level.
“I think Billywould be an outstandingNBA coach,” Van Gundy said. “I think he has a tremendous demeanor, and I think playerswould instantly see his expertise basketballwise, but more importantly, I think theywould sense what a great person he is. He is going to get opportunities in theNBA, and it’s going to be a big decision for him. Does he want to stay at Florida where they’re going to name buildings after him or does hewant a new challenge in his life?”
Donovan has obviously wrestled with this decision in the past. Everybody knows about his brief flirtation with theMagic in 2007 when he accepted the job, changed his mind and returned toUF.
Nowherewearein 2014.
Do the math, Gators fans, and then ask yourself this unnerving question:
Is Billy Basketball getting that seven-year itch once again?