NBA Credited Success: 1-on 1 Assistant Coach With Chad Forcier

Discussing his road in the NBA, we chat 1-on-1 with Orlando Magic assistant coach Chad Forcier

Driving his daughter to her piano lesson was priority number one for former Spurs and current Magic assistant coach Chad Forcier, as he was back in town after the Spurs’ 113-101 win over the Blazers just a night before (Nov. 11).

Priority number two was making it to his dinner, Number three was squeezing me into his schedule during his off-day.

Off-days is what Forcier cherishes because it’s an opportunity for his relaxation and family time. As great as being away from work may sound for some people, he’s been a motivated gym rat since he was little.

As a kid his dream was to become an NBA player, but then reality set in as he became older. The reality was that his childish dream of being a part of the on-court product could only remain as a fixture of his imagination.

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“I always thought I would be a high school coach and probably a high school teacher,” Forcier said. “I never ever thought about coaching in college and I certainly didn’t think about coaching in the NBA.”

Forcier’s coaching career began in 1992, at the tender age of 19, when he earned an opportunity to intern for the Seattle SuperSonics — now Oklahoma City Thunder. For the next five seasons his boss was, soon-to-be NBA coaching legend, George Karl.

In-between his high-profile internship, Forcier was also focusing on his studies at Seattle Pacific (’91-95) along with being a high school coach at Lake Washington in Kirkland, Washington. The George Karl understudy spent three seasons (’94-97) coaching the junior varsity and varsity basketball squad for the Kangaroos.

Just imagine all of the energy Forcier had to exert when it came to his internship, school and coaching job. Straight from the gecko, he knew what he wanted to become in life and wasted no time putting himself in positions to succeed early on in his college career. It’s a work ethic like that, that’ll make an individual get noticed and respected within their occupation of choice.

Working for a professional sports team, let alone the NBA, one of the most premier leagues in the world, at the age of 19 is a rarity. Especially when you consider most of the people working within league at that age are actually the players.

“I loved, absolutely loved, being a high school coach. If I could support my family being a full-time high school coach that’s probably what I would do, I love it” – Forcier

“I got a real lucky opportunity, kind of a right place, right time type of opportunity, and that’s how it started,” Forcier said on working for the Sonics at 19.

See, in 2016, George Karl’s name has a misconstrued connotation to it depending on who you converse with. These days he’s gained a reputation as being a snake from other players that he’s formerly coached. Instead of being adulated and respected as one of the greatest regular season coaches in NBA history, people will often bring up the internal issues he’s had within the respective teams he’s worked for.

Forcier sees Karl as someone who’s akin to being a family member to him. In his half-decade tenure working as an intern for his hometown team Karl was more gracious to him than he ever needed to be, and he opened up his home to the aspiring coach.

“Three of the years I actually lived at his house with his family,” Forcier said.” I became an extensive part to the family. I was kind of like a big brother to his kids. He became more than just my boss and my mentor, he became kinda like family.”

The kindness of Karl and the relationship he built with Forcier is what has stuck with him the most. Working for Karl changed the direction of which Forcier had envisioned himself doing, as the path he was heading on became fluorescent.

“My life literally change direction on a dime,” Forcier said.” That had never been in my wildest imagination, to the next second I had a key to the Sonics locker-room. Things changed quickly and unexpectedly.”

Midway through our interview, Forcier did accomplish priority number one: delivering his daughter to her piano lessons.

As he returned from dropping her off, and re-entered his car to continue our phone interview, it dawned on me that he’s coached at every basketball level possible within the United States: high school, college and NBA — coached at Oregon State (’97-’00) and University of Portland (’00-01) . Bringing me to pose the question as what he enjoyed the most at each basketball level.

“It’s not easy to answer,” Forcier began to say as he returned to his car.” Each situation is really unique and has its own merits. I loved, absolutely loved, being a high school coach. If I could support my family being a full-time high school coach that’s probably what I would do, I love it. I actually got to have a major influence on the kids; you get to teach them the game when they’re at a point in their life where they know very little.”

Not every high school is a powerhouse in the realm of an Oak Hill Academy, Montverde Academy or Findlay Prep. Nationally recognized high schools, like the aforementioned, have the luxury of having the best basketball players on their team, courtesy of recruitment or enrollment. Other schools, such as Forcier’s Lake Washington don’t have that privilege of being known state-to-state on the level of the other schools, and are typically playing students who weren’t recruited and are from the community.

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At the college level, though, it’s the complete opposite. Every school with a varsity team recruits, regardless of division. Forcier has had a diverse experience in recruiting, as he’s done for a big division one school in Oregon State and a small one in the University of Portland.

The ins and outs of college recruiting is a very meticulous process, as Forcier points out.

“I liked coaching in college for a lot of the similar reasons,” Forcier said.” You’re still dealing with young people, but, also, now you’re dealing with more talent because now you get to pick your talent. Being apart of a college town, on a college campus, is always fun and going to college games with fans. When you’re playing someplace where basketball has a relevance, there’s an excitement to that. But dealing with the recruiting and all the rules and eligibility and academics, the college business is very difficult.”

Then there’s the NBA.

If an individual is affiliated with the league in anyway, then kudos to that person. Being a coach in the league of thirty is as competitive as it can get. Many aspire to rest their butts in those comfortable chairs on game day, right next to the players, court, scorer’s table and near the fans. It’s an aspiration that only a few men, and more recently women, will see become a reality.

The NBA, like other major sports leagues, is known as being a cut-throat and competitive league.

“The NBA can eat you alive. I’m very fortunate to have the opportunity to be in San Antonio. It’s a unique spot, that at many times doesn’t really feel like you’re in the NBA, based on the other places I’ve been. The NBA can be a very cold, harsh, ugly, dangerous world, in terms of looking at it from a coach. It’s a very difficult business to succeed in, and it’s a very difficult business to sustain any success if you do have some, for a lot of reasons.”

Throughout our conversation on every basketball level, Forcier let it be known that he was just giving me a feel of everything within the high school, college and NBA ranks. It’s undoubtedly more complicated and deeper of a topic that has to be experienced rather than explained. The complication of each benchmark in Forcier’s journey to the top makes it a more intriguing one.

“The journey is always fun,” Forcier began to say.” In a sense, you go through a lot of things — peak and valleys; there’s bright days and there’s dark days. There’s exhilarating days and there’s terrifying days. You have everything, it’s just like life. A lot of the times, like any us, you don’t know how to judge it until you have the benefit retrospect. When your going through it, you don’t know what the heck you’re doing. Of course none of us have crystal ball, so you don’t know what’s around the next corner.”

That’s true, unless you’re Raven Baxter, not one person can predict the future. The future only unravels with each decision an individual decides to make throughout their life. Decisions which could impact the lives of others, such as giving a peer or someone with requisite skills an opportunity to display their talents.

Forcier, was given an opportunity by many people throughout his life, and wouldn’t credit one singular person for where he is now in his career.

“Credit wise, the first thing that you always have to acknowledge is luck and timing plays a role in everybody’s success. I don’t care who you are or what your field is, nobody deserves the sole credit for where they are. Nobody gets anywhere just because of their sheer talent, or just because of their sheer genius or just because of their sheer work ethic and determination.

“I’m coaching my ninth team in San Antonio right now, I coached four teams in Indiana, I can go down the line. I’ve been apart of winning teams everywhere, and so, I credit all of the players that I’ve been able to be apart of” – Forcier

You have to have luck, you have to have timing, and you have to have circumstances, that have nothing to do with you and then when those kind of things happen and if you are able to add to it, a talent, and add to that a work ethic and a determination, if you have a personality that can succeed with other people — there are a lot other ingredients — then, that you can contribute.”

It’s an answer most would expect from an alumni of the Spurs. Forcier wasn’t just elucidating what it takes to become successful, he was preaching it. There are so many variables that go into the equation of a persons success: luck, timing and connections. It’s an equation that has to coincide with others on the same wavelength, because at the end of the day, jobs are teams.

“Complex answer, but I credit my luck, timing and circumstances, I credit people around me that gave me opportunities: George Karl gave me an opportunity, my mentor Tim Grugrich gave me an opportunity and a lot of other people since then, but that was just the beginning. I give myself some credit for having a work ethic and having an intelligence level of how to handle the opportunity and how to be relentless in terms of trying to pursue my goal. I get some of the credit, and I credit all of the people around me in many, many jobs that I’ve had; many teams that I’ve coached.

The big message here is no matter what your field is: coaching, engineering, broadcasting, journalism. You are never solely to be credited for any of the success that you end up finding yourself having, and likewise, you’re never solely the person that’s the failure when it doesn’t work.”

One of the many people who is to be credited for Forcier’s success in the NBA is current Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle. The way both men met involved the ideology in which Forcier believes and preaches: luck and timing.

During the summers while Forcier was at Oregon State, he received an opportunity from his mentor, Tom Grugrich, to fly down to Honolulu, Hawaii. While in the state capital for three consecutive summers, Forcier, was able to work at basketball pioneer Pete Newell’s big-man camp, which is highly acclaimed and well-known for helping out NBA players such as Shaquille O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Bill Walton.

Newell kept his coaching staff short, as Forcier pointed out, with the depth of coaches only reaching six. Carlisle was one of the six coaches on the staff, and Forcier viewed himself as a “seventh coach,” despite not being on a recognizable level such as his peers. His job, from Newell, was to work at a side basket and assist players that needed extra time on perfecting their craft.

Since then, Forcier and Carlisle became as inseparable as republicans and lying. Speaking of republicans, the two worked together for the first time in the NBA for the Detroit Pistons, who dawn republican — and democratic — colors. Back in 2001, Carlisle became the head coach in the motor city, and decided to hire Forcier as an assistant coach, giving the former high school and college coach his first gig in the big leagues.

The two were fired in Detroit in 2003 and made their way to the mid-west to coach the Pacers for four seasons, prior to being fired in 2007. Being let go by Indiana helped Forcier fall into the graces of the Spurs, and he could only speak nothing but the best for the team that is foreign to losing.

“It’s probably been everything that you imagine it might be,” Forcier said.” From whatever it is that you’ve ever heard, read, seen or perceived about the Spurs, I’m sure you probably think it’s pretty cool, and it is. Not to try to be overly simplistic of an answer, but it’s been a wonderful experience and I feel overwhelmed by the blessing.”

When the Spurs are mentioned, the one man who’s instantly connected to the team outside of Tim Duncan is Gregg Popovich. Nicknamed “Pop,” by his players, peers, fans and the media, he’s been revered around the basketball community for over twenty years. Outside of his coaching acumen, Popovich has been excoriated by people outside of the Spurs for his dialogue with the media. To some, it’s hit or miss with him, but to Forcier it’s always a hit.

“It’s the best thing that you can ever experience. To be in my ninth year with him, and to be getting PhD level education everyday in all sorts of situations that go way beyond X’s and O’s and way beyond even just the game. He’s a wonderful man, highly intelligent, very caring. Much more than the little sound bites you see when he answers questions yes and no.”

Being on Popovich’s coaching staff has always been a go-to destination for assistant coaches, who are looking to stimulate their coaching minds under a legend. Just look at the recent additions of European legend Ettore Messina coming over, along with Becky Hammon, who became the first female coach in NBA history.

Being on the same staff as Popovich is literally the equivalent of Kevin Durant joining the Warriors: become employed by an establishment that is looked at as being innovators at their craft; ahead of everyone when it comes to trends and techniques; can help an individual out in the long run with others knowing who they’ve worked for and with.

“It’s just great to work with everyone I work with. Everybody has fun personalities and talents and diverse backgrounds and experiences. We all bring different ingredients, and I don’t think any of us really find ourselves spending too much time thinking of much about resumes each of us have. We just work with each everyday and enjoy the challenge. I don’t think too much about — I understand coach Messina has a great background and I have respect for him, but I don’t think about it much; I know Becky was a female pro player, but I don’t think about it much. People like to make a big news story of her and its probably great for her news, but I don’t ever really don’t think about it much.”

Just a few seasons before Messina and Hammon joined the Spurs, Forcier had a front-row seat to one of the greatest turn of events in league history. Game six of the 2013 NBA Finals… With The Splash Father aka Ray Allen, hitting one of of the biggest three-pointers of his career.

It prevented the Spurs from celebrating another championship, as Heat fans left to go home and the NBA bringing out the gold tape to celebrate a Spurs victory.

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“It was devastating. That’s all I can say, it was a nightmare.”

As he answers that last question, objective two and three are completed: make it to dinner on time and squeeze me into his schedule.

*All of the quotes within this article from Chad Forcier were acquired prior to him accepting a job position with the Orlando Magic