Carlos Boozer got to see himself with the Chicago Bulls before he even signed with the team.
Before the power forward joined the Bulls during the 2010 offseason, Boozer had an interesting run-in with the Bulls' senior director of game operations, Jeff Wohlschlaeger on the very same night he was to meet with Miami Heat president Pat Riley, ESPN.com reports.
Carrying a titanium briefcase, Wohlschlaeger presented the free agent with an iPad displaying Boozer in a Bulls jersey as if he were already a member of the team. The presentation did not stop there, as the iPad also displayed several highlight reels of potential teammates, as well as a montage of the Bulls' past success. Needless to say, Boozer was intrigued.
"It was good because I was planning on meeting them the next day, the second day, to come here to Chicago," Boozer said of the meeting with Wohlschlaeger. "And they wanted to make an impression the first day. It was cool."
The Chicago-based specialized apps company, Silver Chalice, worked with the Bulls to develop the impressive delivery with a focus on "building a digital strategy from scratch and bringing top-tier execution capabilities into the mix," to attract Boozer and other free agents they were targeting over the summer.
Boozer wasn't the only free agent that received an individualized iPad app from the Bulls. Chicago had Silver Chalice also create personalized apps for LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Joe Johnson during last summer's free-agent dealings.
"It was the latest and the greatest in terms of technology and sizzle and cool," executive vice president of business operations for the Bulls, Steve Schanwald said of the project.
The app clearly worked for Boozer, as the power forward signed just one week after the surprise meeting with the Bulls.
"It was the kickoff to free agency, so it was pretty dope," he said. "I enjoyed watching it. I watched every aspect of it."
