In the most recent installment of the Bulls Talk Podcast, Mike Singer — Nuggets beat writer for the Denver Post and formerly of Comcast Sportsnet Chicago and USA Today — gave his insight on covering Arturas Karnisovas during his Nuggets tenure.
Singer, having also covered the Bulls, first noted the importance of the Bulls looking outside the organization to hire Karnisovas away from Denver.
"This is probably the most significant move they've (the Bulls) made in terms of franchise overhaul, in terms of rebranding a team that's frankly lost a little bit of their shine across the league," Singer said. "Having worked with Arturas, this is the type of guy who's extremely thorough, extremely pragmatic. He's really, really intelligent. Really, really respected. And has a network that cuts across the entire basketball world."
Singer said it was understood in the Nuggets organization that Karnisovas would eventually be elevated to the type of role he will have with the Bulls.
"The Nuggets knew he was going to ultimately run his own franchise," Singer said. "There are quotes from (Rockets GM) Daryl Morey, (Nuggets president of basketball operations) Tim Connelly, that it was going to happen in due time. So if I'm a Bulls fan I'm very excited. There's a lot more substance here than flash. And I think that's really, really important when you're overhauling a whole franchise."
Morey is one of many to describe Karnisovas as collaborative in his approach. Singer echoed this on the podcast, saying the Nuggets' front office is very aligned, and the roles in the Nuggets' front office have a symbiotic balance. He also noted Karnisovas' understated public presence in Denver.
"One thing to keep in mind is Arturas is very buttoned-up," Singer said. "He can come off as reserved. He can come off as keeping things close to the vest. And I read a Yahoo report that [the Bulls] want to find someone in the GM role that has some presence. So in Denver, at least for context purposes, he and Tim Connelly worked very well together in sort of a 'yin and yang' type thing. Tim was very gregarious and outgoing and front-facing, and obviously addressed the media when it came to draft stuff, when it came to free agency. And Arturas is more behind the scenes.
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"I really think that's going to be his most significant change, is having to be more front-facing, having to answer questions, having to potentially deal with criticism that frankly has not been at his doorstep before. So in terms of his hires, I think he's going to look to hire different personalities, because again, while he's very buttoned-up, and definitely does have a lighter side, I would assume he might hire someone who is a little more established at least from a public perspective."
Singer also pointed out the league-wide respect Karnisovas has earned.
"I think he has really good relationships with coaches around the league, with Nuggets coaches, he has really good relationships obviously within the front office. I think players respected him a ton. You even saw several players in the wake of the news touting Arturas and endorsing him. You saw Jusuf Nurkic tweet something. Obviously they have a history. He's from Eastern Europe, and Arturas had a hand in drafting him in that 2014 trade with the Bulls. And I also saw Patrick Beverley tweet something endorsing Arturas. I can't say this enough: This is a guy who is widely respected and goes about his business."
But as "buttoned-up" as Singer has mentioned Karsinovas to be, he also found this note regarding his personality: Karnisovas is a fan of electronic dance music (EDM hereafter). Some of his reported favorites include Armin Van Buren, Kaskade and Calvin Harris.
"I asked (former Nuggets director of player personnel Jared) Jeffries, what from the outside — he's very buttoned up — what do people not know about him? He goes, 'He and I used to work out at the gym to EDM music. He loves EDM music.' And someone goes, 'Yeah, it speaks to his European background.' I've also heard that in conference rooms, let's say in private, sometimes he'll just break out the [Singer bobs head to silent beat to imitate dance move]."
Karnisovas definitely brings a new kind of beat to Chicago.
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