Former OKC Thunder Head Coach Billy Donovan Heads to Hall of Fame

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen former bench boss Billy Donovan head to the Basketball Hall of Fame with former Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony.

Dec 22, 2017; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan (L) speaks to Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony (7) in a break in action against the Atlanta Hawks during the first quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-Imagn Images | Mark D. Smith-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder are rightfully still considered a new franchise with just 17. years of experience in Bricktown. In that span, the OKC Thunder have crammed in a lifetime worth of memories and continue to be one of the winningest franchises in the sport since its relocation from Seattle.

This season, as the Thunder march to its franchise-best record, the team is getting more history piled on top of it. Two former members of the organization have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame for the Class of 2025.

Earlier this week, it was announced that one of the NBA's All-time great scorers, Carmelo Anthony, was heading to Springfield after an illustrations playing career which included a pitstop in Oklahoma City during an offseason that put the Thunder back on the map after facing a tough blow the year before.

Today, another former member of the Thunder gets called to the Hall.

Billy Donovan spent five seasons in Bricktown as the Thunder's head coach, serving as bench boss from 2015-2020. Oklahoma City has only seen four head coaches in its franchise tenure and luring away the legendary college coach from his esteemed spot with the Florida Gators where he reigned from 1996-2015, was no small feet.

In his time with Oklahoma City, Donovan was able to lead the Thunder to a Western Conference finals bid in his first season with the franchise and never missed out on postseason play in five years. The now Hall of Famer posted a 243-157 record in those five seasons for OKC.

His imprint is still left on the franchise via his mentorship to current Thunder bench boss Mark Daigneault, who will shower Donovan in praise each time he is asked to –– which is a lot.

Donovan is a more than deserving selection to the Hall of Fame, a unqiue set up as unlike other sports every part of your basketball life factors into your resume. His back-to-back National Championships at Florida rank at the top of the list of accomplishments.