New Bulls GM always knew he wanted to be involved in basketball
Looking back on his path to earning the title of Bulls general manager, Gar Forman couldn't recall exactly what drove him to become a basketball fanatic as a kid.
He grew up in the comfortable Oakland suburb of Moraga, Calif., not exactly a hoops hotbed. No one else in his family played the sport and he admits to having very little athletic talent. But for some reason, Forman decided early on that he wanted to spend his life in basketball.
"Very little ability and a lot of passion," Forman said. "Really, I knew as soon as junior high that I wanted basketball to be my career path, which it was from the day I finished college.
"I knew I wanted to coach, then as I coached, where I excelled more than anything was recruiting, identifying players, helping to put teams together and evaluating guys. Even during the 17 years I coached in college, my goal was to get into personnel at the highest level."
Forman spoke Thursday at the Berto Center after officially being promoted to his new role. John Paxson will continue as executive vice president of basketball operations, a title he's held since 2003.
One of Forman's favorite memories was cutting high school to attend the Golden State Warriors' victory celebration in downtown San Francisco after they won the NBA title in 1975. It's not his fault that the '75 playoff series against Rick Barry and the Warriors was one of the most disappointing moments in Bulls history.
"I remember on days when I didn't have school, getting on the BART (train) and going to the Oakland Coliseum and sneaking in and watching Warriors practice," Forman said. "In that huge arena, you'd find an open door somewhere, go with a buddy, sneak in and sit up way high and just watch them practice. Nobody really messed with you."
Try doing that at the Berto Center these days.
Forman was mostly a bench player for Miramonte High School, Lassen Community College and Division II College of Notre Dame. His junior college coach got him involved as sort of a basketball operations assistant at Utah State, then he got an early head coaching job at age 23 for Palm Desert Community College.
"I actually had a couple players older than I was," he said.
Most of Forman's college coaching was at New Mexico State, where one of his first recruits was former Bulls guard Randy Brown. He must have done something right, because word spread to Tim Floyd, who had ties at nearby UTEP.
"I really didn't know Tim," Forman said. "I saw him at a Final Four. I knew him to say hello but didn't really have a relationship. He pulled me aside and we visited for a little bit. He said if he got this SEC job, he was going to try to hire me.
"Well, he didn't get that job, but the next year he went to Iowa State and he offered me a job. Somebody that he trusted had said enough good things that he felt he wanted me on his staff."
Forman joined the Bulls as a college scout in 1998, when Floyd became head coach, and is still here nearly eight years after Floyd's tenure ended.
"One thing I can tell you about Gar is that in the time we've worked together he's very organized, very detailed," Paxson said. "Growing up in basketball, he has coached and scouted and has very, very good eyes for talent and evaluation."
Forman's eye for basketball talent has been dependable. But his eye for selecting a career path was absolutely perfect.