One day after the Bulls’ final set of players exited the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols, Billy Donovan has officially entered.
Assistant coach Chris Fleming will serve as the team’s interim head coach for the time being.
Chris Fleming will serve as interim head coach while Donovan is out
— Jamal Collier (@JamalCollier) December 24, 2021
Chicago's Billy Donovan is the fourth NBA coach to enter into Covid protocols, including the Lakers' Frank Vogel, Indiana's Rick Carlisle and Sacramento's Alvin Gentry. Bulls assistant Chris Fleming will be acting head coach in Donovan's absence.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 24, 2021
Up until this point, despite 11 Bulls players entering and exiting protocols this month, the coaching staff managed to get through the outbreak surprisingly unscathed. The Donovan news, however, reminds all of us that the virus could very well continue to be a problem in the Windy City as it continues to tear its way through the league.
The good news for the Bulls is they will at least have a mostly healthy roster for assistant coach Fleming to work with. Losing a head coach is already hard enough, and losing him with a depleted roster would have only made things tougher.