After taking a few days away from anything to do with blogging, I return to some interesting NBA rumors that for the first time doesn't involve the University of Kentucky or John Calipari.
Billy Donovan done nothing to quite the rumors of him possibly being interested in taking an NBA coaching position when he said he 'couldn't guarantee' that he would be back in Gainesville to coach the Gators next season. Now, in his defense, I don't technically blame him for not guaranteeing his return, but he could have done a little better job of convincing Florida fans that he would remain the coach of one of the two best (Kentucky being the other) teams in the SEC. If a man guarantees something and turns around and does the exact opposite, that's wrong. However, if a man never commits one way or the other, then nothing can be said when he up and leaves for greener pastures.
Here's a little sample of what I'm talking about...
"I think when you start making guarantees about life and start making guarantees about where you’re going to be, that’s not good because if for some reason I ever change my mind and did something, I wouldn’t want (people) saying, ‘Well, he promised, he guaranteed, he said this on record,’” Donovan said, according to the Associated Press. “I just think when you start doing that, that’s a mistake."
He's right, that is a mistake, a mistake that is hard to recover from, but when you leave it as as wide open as he did, it's hard to feel comfortable as a Gator fan. Here's how he closed the conversation...
“All I can say is I love Florida, I’m happy here … the school’s been great to me,” said Donovan, who turns 49 on Friday. “But at the same point, some of the NBA stuff, as I’ve said before, is intriguing in a lot of ways — the basketball part of it. That’s not to say that I’m unhappy here; that’s not the case at all.”
This sounds like a guy who is saying, yeah I love Florida, but if the right situation comes along I'd leave in a heartbeat. It's already being reported that Donovan has been in talks with the Cleveland Cavaliers who just happens to have the number one pick in this years NBA Draft. Mix that with Kyrie Irving and it starts to look like a great opportunity for Billy. Could it be the situation that draws Billy away from Gainesville? Time will tell, until then, Rick Pitino (A guy who knows a little something about saying one thing and doing the exact opposite when he took the Celtics job after saying he had absolutely no interest) had this to say about his former player/assistant...
“I think Billy always gets cold feet at the end because with him it’s always been about team and family,” Pitino said. “More than any person I’ve met in my life and encountered in my 40 years of coaching, Billy Donovan has his priorities more in line than any person I’ve ever met.”
Let's see if Ricky is right and Billy ends up staying with the Gators, but after these sort of comments, smart money has to be on him leaving...
To echo Tyler Thompson of KSR however, the SEC wouldn't be the same without Donovan and I personally hope he stays plus, how often does a college coach succeed in the NBA?
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