Adam Forde (born 11 January 1982) is an Australian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach who currently serves as head coach of the

Cairns Taipans The Cairns Taipans are an Australian professional basketball team based in Cairns, Queensland. The Taipans compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the Cairns Convention Centre, known colloquially as "The S ...

of the National Basketball League (NBL). He is also head coach of the Australia men's national 3x3 team. Between 2013 and 2019, Forde was an assistant coach with the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

of the NBL and won four NBL championships. After a season as an assistant coach with the

Sydney Kings The Sydney Kings are an Australian men's professional basketball team competing in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL). The team is based in Sydney, New South Wales, and play their home games at Qudos Ba ...

in 2019–20, he served as their head coach during the 2020–21 season. He was appointed head coach of the Cairns Taipans in 2021, and in 2023 he was named the

NBL Coach of the Year The National Basketball League Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the 1980 NBL season to the best head coach of the regular season. As of the 2023–24 season, the head coach, assistant coach and c ...

. Forde has also coached in the

State Basketball League NBL1 West, formerly the State Basketball League (SBL), is a semi-professional basketball league in Western Australia, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2020, Basketball Western Australia partnered with the National Basketball L ...

(SBL), most notably guiding the

East Perth Eagles East Perth Eagles is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of East Perth District Basketball Association (EPDBA), the major administrative baske ...

men's team to their maiden

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

in 2014. He also spent a season as a

West Coast Waves The Perth Lynx are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and play their home games at both Bendat Basketball Centre and Perth High Perfor ...

assistant in the WNBL and briefly coached the

Hawke's Bay Hawks The Hawke's Bay Hawks are a New Zealand professional basketball team based in Napier. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Pettigrew Green Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they are known as th ...

of the New Zealand NBL in 2021.

Early life

Originally from

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, Forde attended college at

Jamestown Community College Jamestown Community College is a public community college with campuses in Jamestown and Olean, New York. It is part of the State University of New York system. JCC also has extension centers in Dunkirk, New York and Warren, Pennsylvania. The c ...

in New York between 2001 and 2003. In 2003, he played semi-professionally in the

Waratah League NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an intern ...

for the Norths Bears.

Coaching career

NBL

Forde arrived at the

in 2011 as an unpaid video tech but was continually promoted during his eight-year tenure. After a stint as a development coach, Forde was appointed the Wildcats' technical assistant on 1 August 2013. He became a full-time assistant in 2015. Under head coach

Trevor Gleeson Trevor Gleeson (born 28 May 1968) is an Australian professional basketball coach who is currently head coach of the Chiba Jets of the Japanese B.League. He first coached in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League ( ...

, Forde won four NBL championships in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. In May 2019, Forde was appointed assistant coach of the

. He helped head coach

Will Weaver Will Weaver (born William Weller; 1950 in Park Rapids, Minnesota) is an American writer. Background Weaver was raised on a dairy farm near Park Rapids, Minnesota, where his parents, who were of Scandinavian descent, farmed 150 acres. In Weaver ...

guide the Kings in 2019–20 to the minor premiership and their first NBL Grand Final appearance since 2008. Sydney were defeated 2–1 in a

COVID Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

-impacted grand final series against Perth. On 4 December 2020, following Weaver's departure, Forde was appointed head coach of the Kings for the

2020–21 NBL season The 2020–21 NBL season was the 43rd season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of nine teams contested in the 2020–21 season. The regular season was played between January and June 2021, followed by a ...

. In his first season as an NBL head coach, he guided the Kings to a fifth-place finish and a 19–17 record, just missing out on a finals berth. He parted ways with the Kings following the season. On 29 June 2021, Forde was appointed head coach of the

on a two-year deal. After finishing ninth in 2021–22 with just nine wins, he guided the Taipans to 18 wins and a finals spot in

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, as he was named the

. On 3 March 2023, Forde re-signed with the Taipans on a two-year deal. In the

2024–25 NBL season The 2024–25 NBL season was the 47th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of ten teams contested in the 2024–25 season. The league extended its partnership with ESPN Australia. All games are availa ...

, the Taipans went on an 11-game losing streak, finishing in last place with an 8–21 record, their worst in Forde's four seasons at the helm. After initially parting ways with the Taipans following the 2024–25 season, Forde re-signed as head coach on 13 June 2025.

SBL

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, Forde served as head coach of the

Rockingham Flames Rockingham Flames is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of the Rockingham Basketball and Recreation Association (RBRA), the major administrat ...

men's team in the

(SBL). In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, he joined the

and served as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's teams. For the 2012 season, Forde was appointed head coach of the East Perth Eagles men's team. He helped guide the Eagles to the SBL Grand Final, where they were defeated 105–72 by the

Cockburn Cougars Cockburn Cougars is an NBL1 West club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 West. The club is a division of Cockburn Basketball Association (CBA), the major administrative basketball organisa ...

. Following a semi-final defeat in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, the Eagles returned to the SBL Grand Final in

. Forde helped guide the Eagles to their maiden

with a 99–83 win over the Geraldton Buccaneers. He stepped down as coach of the Eagles midway through the 2015 season. Forde returned to coach the Eagles in

WNBL

For the

2011–12 WNBL season The 2011–12 WNBL season was the 32nd season of competition since its establishment in 1981. A total of 10 teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2011 and March 2012, followed by a post-season involving the top ...

, Forde served as an assistant coach with the

New Zealand NBL

In July 2020, Forde was appointed head coach of the

for the

2021 New Zealand NBL season The 2021 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League. As a result of the modified, COVID-affected 2020 season, three of the top four teams in 2019 (Wellington Saints, Hawke's Bay Hawks and Southland Sharks) did not compete. ...

. He split the role in 2021 with Jacob Chance, a fellow assistant with Forde during his time at the Perth Wildcats.

World University Games

In 2019, Forde served as the lead assistant coach under Rob Beveridge with the Australian Emerging Boomers, helping the team win bronze at the

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy.

National 3x3 team

On 10 March 2025, Forde was appointed interim head coach of the Australia men's national 3x3 team. He helped the team win gold at the 3x3 Asia Cup and bronze at the inaugural 3x3 Champions Cup. He continued as head coach of the Australia 3x3 team for the

2025 FIBA 3x3 World Cup The 2025 FIBA 3x3 World Cup will be an international 3x3 basketball event that features competitions for men's and women's national teams. The tournament will run between 23 and 29 June 2025 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Medal summary Medalists Ref ...

in Mongolia.

Personal life

Forde and his partner, Kylie, have a son.

References

External links

Australiabasket.com profilePerth Wildcats 2015 coaching profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forde, Adam 1982 births Living people Australian men's basketball coaches Australian men's basketball players Basketball players from Perth, Western Australia Cairns Taipans coaches Jamestown Community College alumni National Basketball League (Australia) coaches Sydney Kings coaches Sportsmen from Western Australia 21st-century Australian sportsmen