Gar Forman took an unlikely path to become general manager of the Chicago Bulls.

Forman grew up outside San Francisco watching the Rick Barry Warriors and struggling for minutes on his high school team. He played at the College of Notre Dame, an NAIA school before becoming a student assistant at Utah State.

By the time he was 23, Forman inherited a junior college job in Palm Springs before becoming an assistant at New Mexico State. Forman found success recruiting junior college players from Chicago.

Forman was eventually hired by then-Iowa State coach Tim Floyd, who was taken under the wing of former GM Jerry Krause. Forman helped Krause with scouting reports of Big 12 players.

When Floyd became head coach of the Bulls, Forman went with him.

‘‘His way is refreshing,’’ Floyd said. ‘‘He’s not pretentious. He’s not an over-talker. He’s genuine about what he’s saying. He’s a great listener, which is a rare trait today. He’s probably got more friends than anybody I know in the business because he doesn’t offend people and he’s great at returning calls.’’

Forman is unlike most other GMs in that he closely follows the media.

‘‘I want to have a sense of the market, of what our fan base is thinking,’’ he said. ‘‘What you have to do is separate noise from what might be important. But . . . we’re always going to make decisions based on what we think is best for this team and organization moving forward, even if it’s not a popular decision. If we stay true to that, we’ll continue to make progress.’’