NBA players — they’re just like us.
When Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine received the news that former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan had been hired to be his new coach, he was probably doing what a lot of other people were:
Glancing at his phone while playing Call of Duty.
Bleacher Report posted a video from Facebook Gaming that showed LaVine running through a Call of Duty map as he learned about his new coach.
“Oh (expletive), we got Billy Donovan as our next coach,” LaVine said into his headset. “I swear, just came out … Wow. That’ll be good.”
.@ZachLaVine found out Billy Donovan was the Bulls' next head coach while playing COD 🎮 @brgaming pic.twitter.com/X8zlZrAweR
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 22, 2020
Donovan will be LaVine’s sixth coach in seven season in the NBA.
In the guard’s rookie year, 2014-15, Flip Saunders coached the Minnesota Timberwolves. Saunders passed away on Oct. 25, 2015, leaving Sam Mitchell to take over the team days before the season started. The following year, Tom Thibodeau landed the head coaching job.
LaVine was traded to the Chicago Bulls and head coach Fred Hoiberg in the 2017 offseason. Midway through the 2018-19 season, Hoiberg was fired, and Jim Boylen took the job. He too coached a year and a half, but was fired following the completion of the 2019-20 season.
LaVine can expect the Bulls to stick with their new head coach longer than the previous ones he has played under.
Over the last five years, Donovan led the Oklahoma City Thunder to five playoff appearances. He made 14 NCAA Tournament appearances in 19 years as the Florida head coach.
He’ll hope LaVine can continue to develop and lead the team.
The 24-year-old has two more years on his contract. After averaging 25.5 points per game, LaVine hopes Donovan can help him make his first All-Star Game.
