Meet Mike Forde: The man who will help the Kings find new GM to replace Vlade Divac
Sportsology CEO Mike Forde’s bio describes him as one of the United Kingdom’s leading sports executives, someone widely regarded as a leading figure in European soccer for driving innovation and cutting-edge methods across the “high-performance world.”
The Kings lost sight of that world years ago, but maybe Forde can help them find their way back. A league source told The Sacramento Bee the Kings are hiring Forde’s firm to help carry out their search for a new general manager. Forde will help Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé and interim executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars fill the position vacated when Vlade Divac resigned last week after five seasons as general manager.
Forde served as director of football operations and executive club director for the Chelsea Football Club in the English Premier League from 2007-13. He co-founded Sportsology in 2014. Now based in New York, Forde advises sports franchises on talent management and the creation of high-performance cultures.
Forde reportedly helped the New Orleans Pelicans and Washington Wizards conduct their general manager searches in 2019. The Pelicans ended up hiring Trajan Langdon. The Wizards promoted vice president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard, making an in-house hire after Denver Nuggets president Tim Connelly turned down the job.
Forde has also worked with the Los Angeles Clippers, who hired Sportsology in 2017 to build a new leadership team and a strategy to win a championship.
“Sportsology has played a key role in helping our front office and coaching staff to understand our core identity and culture as a basketball organization,” Lawrence Frank, the Clippers’ president of basketball operations, said on the company’s website.
The San Francisco 49ers hired Sportsology in 2017 following a 2-14 season to lead a project focused on reevaluating player development models and restructuring the medical and physical performance department, according to the website.
“Back in the 2017 offseason we had a major decision to revamp the whole football operations for the first time in over a decade,” 49ers President Paraag Marathe said. “We found in Sportsology a perfect partner, process and platform that allowed us to reboot the football areas and hold our entire franchise accountable to a new level of performance.”
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 9:20 AM.
