Gary Orlando Forbes (born February 25, 1985) is a Panamanian former 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 (appr ...

player for the

Saigon Heat The Saigon Heat is a Vietnamese professional basketball team based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Since the 2014 season, the Heat's home games are played at the CIS Arena on the campus of the Canadian International School in District 7. Saig ...

of the

ASEAN Basketball League The ASEAN Basketball League (ABL) is a professional men's basketball league in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong/Macau, which includes six teams from Southeast Asian nations (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam), one tea ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

initially at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

, then transferred to the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

, following his sophomore season.

High school career

Forbes and his mother moved to

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

when he was a child. He went on to attend and play basketball at Benjamin Banneker Academy in Brooklyn. He scored 1,512 points and grabbed 766 rebounds during his high school career, and established career records for points, rebounds and blocked shots. In local awards, he was selected the

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

Player of the Year in Brooklyn as a senior, nominated for City Player of the Year, and earned first-team All-City and All-Tri-State honors. He was also a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

All-American finalist. As a junior, Forbes averaged 27 points, 11 rebounds and six assists a game. As a senior, he averaged 31 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots a game. That year, he scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Benjamin Banneker's 75–69 loss to Lincoln High School in the

Public School Athletic League The Public Schools Athletic League, known by the abbreviation PSAL, is an organization that promotes student athletics in the public schools of New York City. It was founded in 1903 to provide and maintain a sports program for students enrolled i ...

"A" Championship game at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

College career

Forbes was ranked as the #4 shooting guard, and the #20 overall prospect on ESPN's Top 100 for the incoming class of 2003. He committed to play at the

, after also receiving scholarship offers from

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

and

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

. Coach Pete Gillen's group of newcomers was ranked #17 on the list of top recruiting classes on

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

. As a freshman in 2003–04, Forbes played in all of Virginia's 31 games, starting in 17. He averaged 7.6 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He finished second on the team in blocked shots (28) and steals (30). Tallied 22 points (season high) and 9 rebounds against

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

in the ACC – Big Ten Challenge. As a sophomore in 2004–05, Forbes played in 29 games, started 4, and averaged 9.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Scored 23 (season high), on 8–11 shooting, in a loss at #4

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. After starting the game at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

, Forbes tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Gillen resigned from Virginia after the end of the 2004–05 season, and Forbes decided to transfer out of the school. He transferred to the

, and due to

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

transfer rules, he was forced to sit out the 2005–06 season. In the 2006–07 season, his first with the

Minutemen Minutemen were members of the organized New England colonial militia companies trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Mi ...

, Forbes started in 23 of the team's 33 games. Playing behind established seniors Rashaun Freeman and

Stéphane Lasme Yann Ulrich Stéphane Lasme (born December 17, 1982) is a Gabonese former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at the University of Massachusetts (UMass), with the UMass Minutemen, and he was selected by the Golden State Wa ...

, Forbes still averaged 13.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He scored a career high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a game at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

. Forbes scored 20 or more points on three other occasions and snared 16 rebounds in a game versus

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. Helped the Minutemen win their first

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

title since the 1995–96 season. UMass also advanced to the second round of the NIT, their first post-season play since the 1999–2000 season. Coming into his senior year in 2007–08, Forbes was named to Preseason Atlantic 10 Third Team. By the end of the regular season, he was averaging 20.3 points per game, tied for the league lead in scoring with Temple's Dionte Christmas. Forbes scored 25 or more points on six occasions, including a 29 point high at

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

. The A-10 honored him as the league's

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

, and also placed him on the all-conference First Team. Forbes helped UMass make a deep run in the NIT, advancing past

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, two-time defending NCAA champion

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and on to the final before falling to

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

. He was named to the NIT's All-Tournament team. Forbes scored a total of 1,639 points over his college career (698 at Virginia, 1,128 at UMass).

Professional career

After UMass, Forbes participated in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

Pre-Draft Camp in

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

in the summer of 2008. However, he was not selected in the 2008 NBA draft. The

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

invited him to participate in their summer mini-camp, and he played in all 5 games, but he only averaged 3.8 points and 0.6 rebounds per game. In August 2008, Forbes had signed with Italian club

Basket Napoli Napoli Basket, known for sponsorship reasons as GeVi Napoli, is an Italian professional basketball team of the city of Naples. It's the ''de facto'' successor of the Basket Napoli which was dissolved in 2009. The team has achieved the promotion ...

, but the team soon dissolved. Forbes was selected as the #4 overall pick in the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official List of developmental and minor sports leagues, minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development ...

's 2008 draft, by the

Sioux Falls Skyforce The Sioux Falls Skyforce are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and are affiliated with the Miami Heat. The team plays their home games in the Sanford Pentagon, a place they have call ...

. In the D-League's 2008–09 season, he played 22 games for Sioux Falls before being traded to the

Tulsa 66ers Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

, where he played in 30 games. Overall that season, Forbes averaged 17.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He also participated in the league's All-Star weekend, finishing third in the Three Point Shootout. Forbes then played several short stints with international clubs. * May 2009: played for the Talk N Text Tropang Texters club in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Played in 2 games, averaged 27.5 ppg. * May/June 2009: played for Carabobo Globetrotters in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. Played 5 games. * July 2009: played in the NBA's Summer League with the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

. * July 2009: signed with Italian club Soresina. * August 2009: signed with Italian club Gruppo Triboldi. * 2009–10: played for Italian club Vanoli Cremona. Played in 15 games, averaged 13.3 ppg. * 2010: played for Ironi Kfar Hamaccabia Ramat Gan in the

Israeli Basketball Super League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional competition in Israeli club basketball, making it Israel's primary basketball co ...

. The club started 2–11 before Forbes joined, then went 4–5 the rest of the regular season with him. Forbes scored 28 in his team debut, then went on to average 20.3 ppg (best in the league). However, the team's poor season record forced them to the Relegation Playoffs, where they lost their series, and would be demoted to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in the 2010–11 season. In July 2010, Forbes returned to the US for another shot at the NBA. He was invited to play with the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

on their summer league team in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. Forbes played in 4 of the team's 5 games, averaging 3.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. On September 18, 2010, the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

invited Forbes to training camp. Playing in 8 games, Forbes averaged 19.0 minutes, 10.1 points, and 2.9 rebounds per game. He survived pre-season cuts and made the season roster. On December 10, 2011 Forbes signed an offer sheet with the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

. On December 13, 2011, Forbes was officially signed by the Raptors. On July 11, 2012, Forbes was traded to the

along with a future first round pick for

Kyle Lowry Kyle Terrell Lowry (born March 25, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been a six-time NBA All-Star and was named to the All-NBA Third Team in 2016. Lowry ...

. He was waived by Houston on October 29, 2012. In December 2012, Forbes joined the

Zhejiang Lions The Zhejiang Guangsha Lions () are a Chinese professional basketball team based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, which plays in the North Division of the Chinese Basketball Association. Guangsha is the name of the club's corporate sponsor, but to prevent ...

club in the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

. He replaced

Al Thornton Willie Alford Thornton (born December 7, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player for Club Atlético Aguada of the Liga Uruguaya de Basketball. He had formerly played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards and the Gold ...

on the team. In September 2013, Forbes signed with the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The t ...

. However, he was waived on October 17. On November 1, 2013, Forbes was acquired by the

Springfield Armor Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queensl ...

. On January 3, 2014, he was waived by the Armor due to a season-ending injury. On December 21, 2015, Forbes signed with Atenienses de Manatí of the Puerto Rican

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. T ...

. On March 28, 2016, he left Atenienses and was acquired by the

Grand Rapids Drive The Grand Rapids Gold are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Denver Nuggets. The Gold play their home games at Van Andel Arena. They began play as the Anaheim ...

. That night he made his debut for the Drive in a 136–105 loss to

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...

, recording four points, two rebounds and one assist in one minute. On November 1, 2016, Forbes was acquired by the

Long Island Nets The Long Island Nets are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Uniondale, New York, and are affiliated with the Brooklyn Nets. The team plays its home games at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Nassau County ...

of the

. On January 17, he was waived by the Nets after appearing in 20 games. On February 19, 2017, Forbes signed with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Básquet The Liga Nacional de Básquet (abbreviated LNB, and literally in English, "National Basketball League"), also commonly referred to as "La Liga de Básquet" ("The Basketball League"), is the top-tier level of the Argentine basketball league system ...

. On September 21, 2017, Forbes signed with Faros Larissas for the 2017–18 Greek Basket League season. On February 24, 2018, he joined Al-Ittihad Jeddah of the

Saudi Premier League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

National team career

In the summer of 2007, Forbes played with the

Panama men's national basketball team The Panama men's national basketball team (Spanish: Selección nacional de baloncesto de Panamá) represents Panama in men's international basketball competitions, The team represents both FIBA and FIBA Americas. With four qualifications to the ...

at the

2007 FIBA Americas Championship The 2007 FIBA Americas Championships later known as the FIBA AmeriCup (or The Tournament of the Americas), was a basketball tournament held at Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, from August 22, to September 2. It was the thirteenth staging of the ...

, in

. In four games with the team, he averaged 17.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He scored a game high 29 points against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. He was also played with Panama at the

2011 FIBA Americas Championship The 2011 FIBA Americas Championship for Men, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup, was the qualifying tournament for FIBA Americas, at the 2012 Summer Olympics men's basketball tournament, in London. This FIBA AmeriCup tournament was held in Mar del ...

, and the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup.

The Basketball Tournament (TBT)

In the summer of 2017, Forbes competed in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

for the Talladega Knights. Competing for the $2 million grand prize, Forbes scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the Knights' 78–74 first round loss to Paul's Champion's; a team led by former

point guard

Earl Boykins Earl Antoine Boykins (born June 2, 1976) is a former American professional basketball player. Standing at in height, he is the second-shortest player in NBA history behind Muggsy Bogues, who is tall. He was the head coach for the Douglas Cou ...

. Forbes also played for Talladega during the summer of 2016. In two games, he averaged 16.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists as the Knights fell to the City of Gods in the second round. In TBT 2018, Forbes suited up for Gael Nation. In 2 games, he averaged 6.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1 assist per game. Gael Nation reached the second round before falling to Armored Athlete.

Personal life

Forbes has

type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar for ...

, which has a history in his family. He was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 19, initially keeping the diagnosis secret out of fear that it would affect his career prospects. He has five older siblings.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

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Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

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Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

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Playoffs

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References

External links

NBA.com Profile

Gary Forbes Player Info
@ DraftExpress.com

Player page on UMassHoops.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Gary 1985 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Venezuela American men's basketball players Panamanian emigrants to the United States Boca Juniors basketball players Cocodrilos de Caracas players Denver Nuggets players Grand Rapids Drive players Gymnastikos S. Larissas B.C. players Ironi Ramat Gan players Long Island Nets players National Basketball Association players from Panama Philippine Basketball Association imports Shooting guards Sioux Falls Skyforce players Small forwards Sportspeople from Brooklyn Basketball players from New York City Sportspeople from Colón, Panama Springfield Armor players TNT Tropang Giga players Toronto Raptors players Trotamundos B.B.C. players Tulsa 66ers players UMass Minutemen basketball players Undrafted National Basketball Association players Vanoli Cremona players Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball players Zhejiang Lions players American expatriate basketball people in Vietnam Saigon Heat players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people