NEWS: Donnie out | Nico Harrison (Nike) as Pres/GM | Fin as VP | Dirk as Advisor

[Kammrath]

https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/n...mike-forde

Forde, in the view of many, has the approach and background to remedy this problem. His proponents believe he can communicate with owners in a way that helps them properly diagnose their weaknesses, and that, unlike his competition in the headhunting field, he’s eager to do so. Forde, for example, boasts about the fact that his searches last twice as long as the average GM hunt. “Mike’s a lot more thorough and strategic,” said a second executive, who’s dealt with Forde and other headhunters. Another executive told me a story about how a few years ago, he interviewed for an open GM job through a prominent search firm, and, he said, “the entire thing consisted of nothing more than a 30-minute cold call with a stranger from that group.” That same executive, along with multiple others that I spoke with for this story, praised Forde for the amount of work he puts into building relationships and providing feedback—even with those who have not yet reached the point where they are interviewing for open jobs.

Forde’s process is fairly consistent. Someone reaches out and hires Sportsology (which has about 25 full-time employees) for a fee (Forde declined to disclose the amount). Pre-pandemic, Forde and his colleagues would spend around a week on-site, meeting with various individuals in and around the team, both at the ownership level but also lower down on the food chain. “People who have been in organizations and maybe not been heard,” Forde said. “When you open them up to discuss you get some great knowledge.”

Forde’s questions vary. Some examples, according to Pops Mensah-Bonsu, a former NBA player who is now the president of the New York Knicks’ G League team and held that same role for the Wizards when Forde was working to fill their open GM slot: What do you think about the way things run? How often are scouts meeting? What’s your background? Why do you want to be in a front office?

Forde said he stays away from X’s and O’s. “We’re more interested in the process of decision-making. How did you come to the outcome and if you properly used your organization’s resources.”

The goals for all the meetings and conversations are twofold. It’s about understanding the specific nuances of that organization—and more specifically its ownership group. Then, Forde essentially reverse engineers a list of candidates. “An ownership’s way of working is probably set,” he said. “The key is to find the people who are the best match.”

A common criticism is that his search pools are limited. “He has a pretty consistent base of who he goes to around the league for advice when hiring,” said one team executive. Of the 17 people who have interviewed for jobs filled by Forde, four (Gersson Rosas, Arturas Karnisovas, Sachin Gupta, and McNair) have Houston Rockets ties. Some wonder if Forde’s too cozy with the league office and if Silver’s preferences influence Forde’s decisions. Same goes with Buford. There’s also the question of how much canvassing Forde actually does. He may be more diligent than other headhunters, but Forde also appears to be leaving some gaps. One GM told me he’d never heard of Forde. Another told me the two have never spoken. So did a former team president, as well as about a half-dozen assistant GM types.

On the one hand, expecting Forde to know every high-ranking executive in and around the NBA might be asking too much. On the other hand, it’s reasonable to expect that a man positioning himself as a hiring guru would make a point of at least knowing every NBA GM, in order to cast a wider net.

As for his apparent fondness for the Rockets? “They obviously had a sustainable platform of success and [former team president] Daryl [Morey] exposed people in his front office to a lot of different things,” Forde said. He also added that, “a lot of new owners have got a strong bias toward process and analytics,” which Morey’s front office was famous for embracing.

“That’s the biggest thing,” he said. “Jobs titles in the NBA don’t usually match up against responsibilities. And from there you try to match them with the proper NBA team.”