OKC Thunder head coach Billy Donovan enters do-or-die season
By Noah Schulte
OKC Thunder head coach, Billy Donovan, is entering a sink-or-swim fourth year. Here’s why.
Coaching is one of those things in the NBA that no one can gauge properly. Depending on the prism through which you view the NBA, coaches can either be the most important part of a team or just someone to roll the ball out during practices. No one quite symbolizes that tension more than OKC Thunder head coach, Billy Donovan.
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Since he took the helm in 2015, the team has had quite a weird run. They made the Conference Finals in his first year, before blowing a 3-1 lead and losing to the Golden State Warriors. The following year, Russell Westbrook triple-doubled his way into an MVP award and a first-round playoff exit which cast huge doubts over Donovan’s ability to truly lead a team. After an up-and-down season the following year, they were embarrassed by the significantly younger–and arguably less talented–Utah Jazz.
Although Donovan’s system carries at least partial blame for the embarrassing exits, no one can accurately say how much because of the players whom play in it.
Here’s why Donovan is about to enter a critical fourth year, and why the team might be thinking about parting ways with him.