Billy Donovan's Very Blunt Assessment of the Chicago Bulls Says It All

Billy Donovan isn't beating around the bush.

For the first time since he arrived to take over the Chicago Bulls, the team has dropped seven consecutive games. The losing streak has put an exclamation point on a disastrous few weeks. Starting the year 6-1, the recent schedule was seen as an opportunity to build on that momentum. The seven games between Nov. 22 and Dec. 5, in particular, stood out as arguably the easiest stretch of the team's schedule this season.

Six of those matchups were against squads that sat below Chicago in the standings: Washington, New Orleans, Charlotte, Indiana (x2), and Brooklyn. Orlando was the lone team that had more wins than Chicago, but the Bulls had already pulled off a win over that group this season. Nevertheless, after narrowly beating the Wizards, the Bulls proceeded to lose each and every contest. And they tacked on their seventh straight loss on Monday night against a Warriors team missing Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

Considering the level of competition, one could easily argue that no team has played worse basketball than the Bulls this month. But don't take my word for it.

Billy Donovan Keeps It Painfully Real Amid Losing Streak

Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls — Dec 3, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan directs the team during the first half against the Brooklyn Nets at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Even Billy Donovan can not ignore how ugly things have become. The head coach spoke with the media earlier this week, and he shared quite a blunt assessment of where things stand for his young group:

“People wanna sit there and say, ‘Well, you lost to New Orleans. They got a bad a record.’ Indiana, bad record. I don’t think we’re any different from those teams. We’re not just gifted to walk in there (and) if we show up, we’ll win games. … I do not view it that way at all when I watch tape," Donovan told reporters, including Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic.

The veteran coach went on to stress that he does not believe injuries have played a major role in the team's struggles. Instead, he harped on the attention to detail. Whether it be inbounding the basketball or hustling in the open floor, Donovan is clearly frustrated with the lack of focus and overall buy-in to the team's early-season identity.

Donovan is absolutely right to lump his group in with the NBA's bottom-feeders, by the way. The Bulls are 3-13 in their last 16 games. They have held the NBA's second-worst net rating during this losing streak, sitting in front of only the 3-19 Washington Wizards. The incredibly connected and deep team we saw punch teams in the mouth over the first two weeks of the year has vanished, and the Bulls look completely lost on both ends of the floor.

The offensive struggles have been particularly discouraging. After starting the year as one of the most efficient teams thanks to their consistent off-ball movement and unselfish passing, the Bulls have held the 28th offensive rating in the NBA over the last 15 games.

Defense was always going to be an uphill battle, but it felt like they could manage to hang around thanks to the uptempo and downhill identity they first started to establish offensively during the second half of last season. Instead, things have increasingly unraveled on that end, with the team failing to score more than 105 points in four of their last five games.

Simply put, it's impossible not to consider the Bulls among the NBA's worst when looking at the recent numbers. You have to respect Donovan for not ignoring the obvious, as acceptance is the first step toward actually fixing the problem. But isn't this as much a reflection of his performance as it is the team's?

To be clear, I'm not saying that Donovan isn't taking responsibility. He typically is someone who looks in the mirror and lumps himself in with the group. The broader point is that this recent losing streak isn't about what is happening on the court but rather what is happening across the organization.

The coaching staff let a 6-1 start turn into a 9-14 record. The front office built a roster that has a -5.5 net rating and no true star to lean on. This isn't merely a case of a young team having growing pains. Is that what anyone would say about the majority of the teams that Donovan lumped the Bulls in with? No, those are dysfunctional franchises with an undefined path.

Heck, at least teams like the Wizards and Hornets are more aggressively pursuing a legitimate rebuild. The Bulls have consistently pushed back against that sentiment, insisting that they want to remain competitive while building a better product. How has it worked out for them? Well, their own head coach is now deeming them no better than those aggressive rebuilding teams. In other words, some teams are bad by design, while others are just plain bad. The Bulls are the latter.

When this is the case, it's typically a signal that something drastic needs to be done. It's typically a signal that those leading the way have lost their way. There is no better time than the present to do something about that, but whether or not the Bulls will is a question we have been forced to ask far too many times in the past.