Chicago Bulls: Former Gator Taurean Green joining Donovan’s staff

Taurean Green (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Taurean Green (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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Heading into Training Camp and the preseason, it looked like the Chicago Bulls coaching staff would not be a main point of emphasis for this team. Yet, second-year head coach Billy Donovan expanded his staff with an interesting addition this week with a former player of his, Taurean Green.

Green will be joining the Bulls as a player development coordinator heading into the season. This comes after a lengthy playing career, mostly overseas. Green will be joining a trio of other player development coordinators with the Bulls heading into the regular season.

The three other player development coordinators that the Bulls have on staff are Henry Domercant, Max Rothschild, and Ty Abbott. All three of those Bulls player development coordinators were hired ahead of last season, when the new front office and coaching staff took over in Chicago.

Chicago Bulls to add a fourth player development coordinator in former Florida G Taurean Green

Moreover, this announcement came courtesy of a post on Green’s Instagram page this week. He mentioned both his retirement from his professional playing days in the basketball world, and the transition into coaching/player development.

Green spent pretty much the entirety of his post-NBA playing days in professional hoops playing overseas in Europe. The last team he played for was Le Mans, in LNB Pro A over in France. The 34-year-old Fort Lauderdale, FL, native last played with Le Mans during the 2019-20 season.

And the last team that Green played for in the regular season, or postseason, in the NBA was the Denver Nuggets. He was waived by the Nuggets prior to the start of the 2008-09 season, which was when he would then take his talents overseas.

But Green did get to play in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League in two offseasons after the last regular season game he played in the league. Green actually played for the Bulls Summer League team ahead of the 2009-10 season. And the last Summer League team he played for was the Orlando Magic ahead of the 2012-13 season.

Green was originally a second-round draft pick of the Portland Trail Blazers out of Florida back in 2007. But he played in less than a dozen regular season games with the Blazers before he landed with the Nuggets during the 2007-08 campaign.

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During his three seasons playing under Donovan with the Gators in college, this player-coach connection was able to win two National Championships in 2006 and 2007. And one of the more notable teammates Green had in college is the former Bulls standout center and 2013-14 Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah.