Bulls Went After New Head Coach Billy Donovan Aggressively

CHICAGO (CBS) -- New Bulls Head Coach Billy Donovan has a history of winning and player development.

It is his relationships with players that seem to be his big emphasis – talking to them and learning to maximize their talents.

These qualities led to new Bulls Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Arturas Karnisovas to go after Donovan aggressively – almost immediately after Donovan parted ways with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

"This kind of came out of left field for me. I had no idea that any of this was necessarily going on," Donovan said, "and then, you know, Arturas really, I think, said, 'I just want to be able to sit down and talk and share what my vision is to see if it matches up with what you think."

"His record speaks for yourself," Karnisovas said. "You know, he didn't have to prove it to us that he's capable. It was more of us selling our vision."

"The word he kept using to me, which was powerful to me, he said: 'I want a partnership. I want to be partnered with somebody, and I want to work and build together, and have dialogue and good communication, and work very, very closely together, and be involved with each other at every possible level of the organization,'" Donovan continued.