On Wednesday, Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported via social media that former Golden State Warriors assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse is a candidate for the Chicago Bulls vacant head coach position.
Another name for the Bulls' coaching search: Jerry Stackhouse, fresh off a stint as a Warriors assistant, has emerged as a candidate in Chicago, sources tell @JakeLFischer and me.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 20, 2026
More coaching carousel coverage here: https://t.co/t2les20urH
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The rebuilding Bulls have been reported to target a wide-ranging slate of head coach candidates, according to previous The Stein Line reporting by Stein and Jake Fischer, including names such as Portland Trail Blazers interim head coach Tiago Splitter and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant coach Micha Nori.
The latest addition of Stackhouse to the Bulls' expansive head coaching search is perhaps the ideal candidate profile that should be in line to replace Billy Donovan as Bulls head coach.
Jerry Stackhouse, the NBA player, enjoyed a successful NBA career longevity that spanned 18 years and presents a Forrest Gump-like evolution of team and NBA star pairings, starting with a rookie Allen Iverson on the Philadelphia 76ers, followed by two NBA All-Star game selections as a member of the Detroit Pistons that coincided with Grant Hill’s final Pistons seasons, followed by Ben Wallace’s first Pistons season.
Stackhouse teamed up with his fellow North Carolina Tar Heels basketball alum, Michael Jordan, for his definitive final NBA season with the Washington Wizards during the 2002-03 NBA season. Subsequently, Stackhouse proved to be a reliable sixth-man rotational player, notably on the Dallas Mavericks as they ascended to their first NBA Finals appearance in 2006, and later teaming with LeBron James in his first season with the Miami Heat, which also resulted in another trip to the NBA Finals in 2011.
The list of players and the wide variety of NBA locker rooms on Jerry Stackhouse’s NBA player resume are solid indicators of why his NBA playing career has seamlessly flowed into a basketball coaching career with growing longevity, much like his playing career.
Jerry Stackhouse has the goods to be the Chicago Bulls' next head coach
The hiring of Bryson Graham as the Bulls' EVP of basketball operations has removed any ambiguity about what direction the franchise is on relative to the rest of the league. This is a rebuilding franchise that intends to build through the NBA draft and needs a head coach who understands how to develop winning NBA players.
Jerry Stackhouse cemented his NBA player development legacy as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors’ (then D-League) development team, Raptors 905, winning the 2016-17 NBA D-League championship and NBA D-League Coach of the Year award in the same season, while coaching notable development success stories, 2019 NBA champions Pascal Siakam and Fred Van Vleet.
Most importantly, an NBA head coach has to earn the respect of their players and the locker room at large. Stackhouse earned that respect from NBA defensive stalwarts such as Bulls legend Joakim Noah and four-time NBA champion Draymond Green.
Warning: NSFW language.
For good measure, Stackhouse also understands coaching and development at the college level via five seasons as the head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores’ men’s basketball team, which notably earned Stackhouse the 2022-23 SEC Coach of the Year award.
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