Chicago Bulls: Bradley Beal loved his time with Billy Donovan at Florida

In a discussion mainly about the new NIL law at the NCAA level, the former Florida Gators star shooting guard Bradley Beal also got to talk about the Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan. In his first year as the Bulls head coach, Donovan did help this team find a decent level of improvement in terms of success in the win column.

The Bulls won nine more games than the prior regular season and lost two fewer. Although, that was still not enough to get the Bulls over the postseason hump, as they missed out on the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

Moreover, Beal got to talk about his former head coach Donovan in a piece with Brandon Carroll of SI Florida this week. Beal mentioned that, despite not getting the chance to take advantage of this new NIL rule, he was grateful for getting to play for Donovan during his one season in Gainesville.

Here’s more on what Beal had to say about playing for Donovan at Florida in this piece with SI Florida.

"“It was amazing for me and very well needed. I always say it was short-lived because I love Billy Donovan, and I wanted to win him a national championship, and I always told him that even when he [is] coaching with the Bulls now,” Beal said. “It was amazing, man.”"

Bradley Beal speaks highly of Chicago Bulls’ head coach Billy Donovan

Through his eight years in the NBA to date, the three-time All-Star Beal has not had the opportunity to play for Donovan. Beal spent all eight years of his NBA career thus far playing for the Washington Wizards.

He did get to play for one former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach, though, in Scott Brooks. Beal also played for fellow former Wizards head coach Randy Whittman in his time in the nation’s capital.

Donovan was the Thunder head coach for the first five seasons for him in the NBA. The Thunder let him go following the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. That’s when the Bulls hired him to replace Jim Boylen as the next head coach in Chicago.

Moreover, the thought of Beal getting to reunite with Donovan with the Bulls sounds great. But that is more of a thought than something that will become reality since that would be an extremely difficult trade for the Bulls’ front office to pull off.

Both the Wizards and Bulls were borderline playoff teams during the regular season. But it was the star guard duo of Russell Westbrook and Beal that ultimately got the Wizards over the hump. The Wizards were still ousted in the first round of the playoffs, though, by the Philadelphia 76ers.