James Ricardo Forbes (July 18, 1952 – January 21, 2022) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. His college career at the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

was crowned by his participation at the 1972 Olympics as a member of the youngest-ever U.S. team. Forbes played in the highly controversial

1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final The 1972 Olympic men's basketball final was the last game of that year’s Olympic basketball tournament, and became one of the most controversial events in Olympic history. With the ending mired in controversy, the Soviet Union defeated Team U ...

, which ended in a loss for his team. Protesting refereeing in that match, he and the rest of the team have never accepted the silver medal.

Life and career

Forbes was born in

Fort Rucker, Alabama Fort Rucker is a U.S. Army post located primarily in Dale County, Alabama, United States. It was named for a Civil War officer, Confederate General Edmund Rucker. The post is the primary flight training installation for U.S. Army Aviators and ...

, on July 18, 1952. He attended Bel Air High School in El Paso, Texas. He was drafted by the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

in the fourth round of the

1974 NBA draft The 1974 NBA draft was the 28th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 28, 1974, before the 1974–75 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players ...

, but he never played professionally. Forbes was later an assistant coach for the UTEP Miners before going to coach high school basketball in El Paso. As a high school coach, he guided the Riverside Rangers to the Texas 5A Final Four in 1995 and the Andress Eagles to the Texas 5A Sweet Sixteen in 2009. Forbes has more than 700 career high school coaching victories. Forbes died from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

in El Paso, on January 21, 2022, at the age of 69.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, James 1952 births 2022 deaths American men's basketball players African-American basketball players Basketball players at the 1971 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Arkansas Basketball players from El Paso, Texas Chicago Bulls draft picks Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Texas High school basketball coaches in Texas Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in basketball Pan American Games competitors for the United States People from Dale County, Alabama Power forwards (basketball) UTEP Miners men's basketball coaches UTEP Miners men's basketball players