How Arturas Karnisovas’ path to Chicago Bulls was paved by Nuggets
Last Friday, with the news already having spread that Nuggets general manager Arturas Karnisovas would be the next top executive of the Chicago Bulls, Denver’s front office gathered in the way that people assemble during a global pandemic.
A Zoom happy hour.
“It was bittersweet,” Karnisovas told The Post on Monday. “We were remembering all the stories, A.K. stories, just kind of reminiscing a little bit about my time in Denver.”
When he was pressed on the stories shared, Karnisovas stiff-armed the question like a seasoned executive.
“Those stories better remain untold,” he said. “That’s why it’s a private Zoom call.”
On Monday, Karnisovas, though still in Denver because of the coronavirus pandemic, officially took his mantle as the new executive vice president of basketball operations for the Chicago Bulls. He outlined his vision for the franchise — “I like multi-positional players; I like guys with high basketball IQ that play off each other,” he said on a conference call — and talked about how much he valued the opportunity to return the Bulls to relevancy.
It’s a dream job, Karnisovas said, especially because he grew up watching Michael Jordan and saw a dynasty develop from afar.
At the 1992 Olympics, Karnisovas faced off against Jordan and the Dream Team as a part of the Lithuanian national team. Now, it’s Karnisovas’ job to restore the shine to a franchise that has been rudderless for years.
But how, exactly, did Karnisovas gain the confidence of Jerry and Michael Reinsdorf, together the chairman and president/COO of the Chicago Bulls?
It begins with the Nuggets themselves. Denver president Josh Kroenke took a call from Michael Reinsdorf once the Bulls made clear they were undergoing a franchise overhaul and searching for a new head executive.
“It’s awkward,” Reinsdorf said. “You’re calling someone up to ask permission to talk to one of their employees that’s under contract. I spoke to Josh that night, I think it was Friday night, I asked for permission. He said, ‘Of course.’ He goes, ‘We don’t want to lose him.’ But in Josh’s words, ‘It’s the Chicago Bulls.’”
As Reinsdorf recalled, the conversation veered back to last summer when Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly considered leaving Denver for a similar role with the Washington Wizards.
“I said to Josh, ‘What would you have done had Tim taken that job?’ ” Reinsdorf said. “ ‘Would you have hired Arturas and just promoted Arturas up to the head of basketball operations?’ And he said, ‘Absolutely.’ That meant he wasn’t going to do a search, he wasn’t going to do anything. That told me everything.”
Days later, Reinsdorf said he called Connelly himself to get a sense of Karnisovas, who had spent seven years in Denver, including the last three as general manager. Once it had been established that there was interest on Chicago’s end, and Karnisovas told his colleagues “That’s the job I would like to get,” Connelly went to work.
He organized mock interview sessions and ran Karnisovas through the questions he would probably be asked.
“It was amazing,” Karnisovas said. “It’s a prep, but that’s what I’m all about. I like to be all prepared. We prepared for all the questions and we covered all the bases. He helped me out.”
Though Connelly and Kroenke recognized they would potentially be losing an invaluable piece of their front office culture, both worked diligently to increase Karnisovas’ odds.
“They were so happy for him,” Reinsdorf said.
Before the formal interview process began last week, which came after Reinsdorf consulted other owners, GMs, players, agents and even media members, the Bulls’ COO sprung an unexpected invitation on Karnisovas one night.
“He said, ‘Can I call you right now?’ ” Karnisovas said. “I said, ‘Of course.’ I had no idea what he was going to talk about, because the interview was scheduled the day after. He called, and our five-minute call became a two-hour conversation.”
Over that conversation, Karnisovas elaborated on the culture he had helped build in Denver, how he would fill out a front office that was notoriously thin and his vision for an expanded player development program. The latter point was vital because although the Bulls had drafted well in recent years, their player development, particularly involving former lottery pick Lauri Markkanen, wasn’t up to NBA standards. It became clear to Reinsdorf how many boxes Karnisovas would check.
There were two more formal Zoom interviews after that, but that initial call laid the framework.
As momentum mounted, Karnisovas wrestled with a “heartbreaking” decision: Leave an organization that was integral to his growth and on the verge of title contention, or jump at the chance to guide a franchise on his own?
“It took us a while, but we created a sustainable program that’s going to win for a long time,” Karnisovas said of the infrastructure in Denver. “And then you bring players that you care about, you spend years with them and it’s heartbreaking to leave. Same way with coaching staff. They’ve done an unbelievable job over the years.”
Karnisovas was effusive in his praise of the organization, from Stan and Josh Kroenke to his “best friend” Connelly and the rest of the staff. Karnisovas is still in a whirlwind of hiring and assessing and is still sifting through the “500 new friends since Tuesday.” But he’s overjoyed at the opportunity in front of him.
“It’s an iconic NBA team, and to modernize that situation would be an honor for me,” Karnisovas said. “That was the thought process that I really wanted to go for it. (The Nuggets) were really supportive. They helped me through this process, and I thank them for it.”
