{"id":702722,"date":"2026-04-07T05:46:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T05:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/702722\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T05:46:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T05:46:26","slug":"bulls-fire-top-two-basketball-executives-with-billy-donovans-fate-in-balance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/702722\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulls fire top two basketball executives with Billy Donovan\u2019s fate in balance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"An<\/p>\n

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley of the Chicago Bulls, holding basketballs and smiling, Image 2 shows Two men, one in a light gray shirt and the other in a gray long-sleeved shirt, discuss something at Chicago Bulls Media Day<\/p>\n

The Chicago Bulls are shaking up their C-suite.<\/p>\n

With the team set to miss the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons, the Bulls announced on Monday that they\u2019re firing executive vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley.<\/p>\n

The pair were both hired in the spring of 2020 as the Bulls parted ways with longtime executive Gar Forman (and reassigned John Paxson), but Chicago has continued to mire in mediocrity \u2014 posting a 224-254 record under Karnisovas and Eversley.<\/p>\n

\u201cArturas and Marc have led with a deep commitment to the Chicago Bulls. These decisions are never easy, especially when they involve people we respect both personally and professionally,\u201d Bulls CEO and president Michael Reinsdorf said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"Vice<\/p>\n

Vice president of basketball operations of the Chicago Bulls, Arturas Karnisovas, introduces new General Manager Marc Eversley on August 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful for their dedication and the work they\u2019ve put in over the past years. At the same time, we have not had the success our fans deserve, and it\u2019s my responsibility to go in a new direction. This move is about positioning our team for sustained success moving ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move comes as Chicago is just 29-49 and 12th in the Eastern Conference, with the team set to draft in the lottery for the third straight year.<\/p>\n

Karnisovas and Eversley\u2019s rocky tenure was brought into focus last week when the team cut Jaden Ivey<\/a> less than two months after trading for the 2022 No. 5 overall pick.<\/p>\n

Ivey, who was dealt to Chicago in a three-team deal that saw the Bulls send Kevin Huerter and Dario Saric to Detroit, was released by the organization for \u2018conduct detrimental to the team\u2019 after criticizing the NBA\u2019s support of Pride Month in a lengthy video rant online.<\/p>\n

The Christian guard spent much of the video speaking about religion and also called Catholicism a \u201cfalse religion\u201d in the Instagram live stream.<\/p>\n

\"Executive<\/p>\n

Executive Vice-President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas of the Chicago Bulls looks on prior to the game against the Los Angeles Lakers at the United Center on March 27, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois Getty Images<\/p>\n

Karnisovas and Eversley also traded away productive players in Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White at this year\u2019s trade deadline, and in 2021 shipped off a future All-Star in Lauri Markkanen.<\/p>\n

Patrick Williams \u2014\u00a0who is averaging a career-low 6.6 points per game this year \u2014\u00a0was also rewarded with a five-year, $90 million extension in 2024.<\/p>\n

Despite the Bulls\u2019 changes to their front office, they will reportedly try to keep head coach Billy Donovan.<\/p>\n

According to ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania<\/a>, the Bulls hope to retain Donovan, whose hiring coincided with the start of the Karnisovas-Eversley era.<\/p>\n

The coach made the playoffs just once with Chicago, in 2021-22.<\/p>\n

\"President<\/p>\n

President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Reinsdorf of the Chicago Bulls talks with head coach Billy Donovan during Media Day at Advocate Center on October 02, 2023. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI want our fans to know that I hear you and understand your frustration. I feel it as well. I know this will take time, and I am fully committed to getting this right,\u201d Reinsdorf said in his statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the Chicago Bulls, our focus remains on building a team that can compete at the highest level and ultimately contend for championships. We are committed to taking the necessary steps to move the Bulls forward in a way that makes our fans proud.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley of the Chicago Bulls,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[4750,4102,7,4438,920,919,329,3824,963,10877,296,1018,10836,4103,976,150,22774,24589,6,88085,6140],"class_list":{"0":"post-702722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago-bulls","8":"tag-arturas-karnisovas","9":"tag-ayo-dosunmu","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-basketball-operations","12":"tag-bulls","13":"tag-chicago","14":"tag-chicago-bulls","15":"tag-chicagobulls","16":"tag-coby-white","17":"tag-dario-saric","18":"tag-detroit","19":"tag-jaden-ivey","20":"tag-john-paxson","21":"tag-kevin-huerter","22":"tag-lauri-markkanen","23":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","24":"tag-marc-eversley","25":"tag-michael-reinsdorf","26":"tag-nba","27":"tag-operations-arturas-karnisovas","28":"tag-patrick-williams"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116361850110529693","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}