SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs have reportedly locked in a big name to be their new lead assistant coach.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Pete Thamel, Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach Billy Donovan will join Mitch Johnson’s staff in San Antonio ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season.
As the reported new lead assistant for Johnson, Donovan would, in effect, replace the space vacated by Sean Sweeney.
Last month, Sweeney, the Spurs’ most recent associate head coach, was announced as the 16th Orlando Magic head coach in that franchise’s history.
Coincidentally, in 2007, Donovan was famously offered and accepted the Orlando Magic head coaching job. After he was introduced as Magic head coach, Donovan had second thoughts and decided to return to coach the University of Florida.
After a stellar 19 seasons that resulted in 467 wins, four NCAA Final Four appearances and back-to-back national championships at Florida, Donovan officially leapt into the NBA when he became the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015.
Anchored by likely future Hall of Fame players Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder went all the way to the Western Conference Finals in Donovan’s first season at the helm.
Oklahoma City took a 3-1 lead in its best-of-seven series against Stephen Curry and Golden State before the Warriors climbed the mountain and captured the Western Conference crown in seven games.
Under Donovan, OKC was competitive, but it did not reach those heights again. With his contract at the end of COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, he and the franchise agreed to mutually part ways.
Two weeks after leaving the Thunder in September 2020, the Chicago Bulls hired Donovan to be their head coach. The Bulls made only one postseason appearance in his six seasons before Donovan elected to step aside in April.
In 2025, Donovan was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for his accomplishments at the college level.
Donovan was also a standout guard for fellow Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino on the 1987 Providence College Friars team that qualified for an NCAA Final Four.
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