NBA News Wire
NBA teams talk with Florida’s Donovan
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
NBA teams are interested in Billy Donovan, but the Florida coach said Thursday that he is happy in his current job.
According to ESPN.com, several NBA teams reached out to Donovan about their head coaching vacancies, but he refused to name them.
“I have spoken to a couple NBA teams and that’s all I’m going to say,” Donovan said, according to ESPN. “It’s always flattering, but at the same time, I’ve always said that I’m very happy here and like it here.”
The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the teams to contact him, ESPN.com reported. Other teams with openings include the Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks and Utah Jazz.
The Cavs are searching for a replacement for Mike Brown, who was fired after the season, and have expressed interest in Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg and UConn’s Kevin Ollie, sources told ESPN.com.
The Akron Beacon Journal reported Thursday that the Cavs requested permission to speak with Los Angeles Clippers assistant Alvin Gentry, who has ties to Cavs general manager David Griffin. Gentry has a 335-370 record in 12 seasons as a head coach with the Phoenix Suns, Clippers and Detroit Pistons.
Donovan, who has led Florida to two national championships, likes the college game.
“I got into coaching because of the basketball piece of it, and there is an intrigue as it relates to (the NBA),” Donovan told the Associated Press. “When you try to project where your future is, where you’re going to be, and you don’t know because I don’t have a crystal ball, all I can say is I am happy here at Florida. I love being here.
“The NBA part of it, the intrigue part of it for me, is just the fact that it’s basketball 24 hours a day. That’s all you’re dealing with is basketball.”
