After more than two decades in the organization, the Chicago Bulls reportedly fired Gar Forman on Monday. The Bulls made it official on Monday after other front office shuffling made it clear the longtime general manager of the franchise would have his duties changed.
After 22 years in the Chicago Bulls organization, GM Gar Forman has been fired.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 13, 2020
Forman joined the Bulls in 1998 as a scout and saw various roles with the organization before becoming its general manager in 2009. He won NBA Executive of the Year in 2011, but recent years have seen the Bulls struggle and fans grow tired of Forman, who was criticized for passing on a variety of notable players while the Bulls continued to falter.
The move comes after the team hired Artūras Karnisovas as executive vice president of basketball operations from the Denver Nuggets front office. Karnisovas takes over the role from John Paxson, who the Bulls announced will move into an advisory role with the team from the position he’d held since 2003.
The Bulls announce that John Paxson is moving to an advisory role and that GM Gar Forman has been dismissed after today's official hiring of Arturas Karnisovas as EVP of basketball operations
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 13, 2020
With Paxson out of the picture it seemed certain Forman’s role would change as well, and now it looks like the Bulls will go in an altogether new direction.
Forman released a statement on Monday thanking the organization for the opportunity and his time there.
Gar Forman in statement: "It has been an honor and a privilege to work for the Chicago Bulls for more than two decades. There is no better ownership group in professional sports than the Reinsdorfs, and I want to thank Jerry and Michael for their support during my tenure."
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 13, 2020
It’s unclear what the Bulls will do with its front office moving forward, but in this NBA purgatory where the season isn’t officially canceled and not much else can happen, Forman’s exit paves the way for more big changes in Chicago’s leadership.
