This episode has been nearly 3 years in the making! We welcome Gary Forbes, 2008 Atlantic-10 Player of the Year at UMASS and currently heading into his 12th year as a professional basketball player with the Saigon Heat .
Gary made his NBA debut with the Denver Nuggets in 2010, after going undrafted in the 2008 NBA draft which he attributes to teams not being comfortable with his Diabetes. Rob was playing college basketball in Colorado Springs at the time and remembers hearing the stories of the Nuggets signing a player with T1D, and being inspired by a guy with T1D playing at the highest level of basketball in the world.
Gary and Rob talk about the demands of being a professional athlete in a foreign country, as well as some of the struggles Gary has experienced in his years as an athlete. He’s had a few hypoglycemic incidents that were not only personally scary for him, but affected his ability to stay in the NBA at times.
Gary’s mindset may be his greatest skill, as he has never let his Diabetes, knee injuries, or unfavorable circumstances impact his belief in himself and his ability. He’s currently authoring children’s books to help pass along this mindset to the next generation of people with Diabetes in hopes that they will be able to chase their dreams like he has.
T1D runs in Gary’s family, and he mentions that his father (who also has T1D) was an example to Gary early in his life because he was an Olympic weightlifter with Diabetes long before any of the modern day technology was around. It’s that example that led to him being the most recent person with Type-1 Diabetes to play in the NBA, among others like Adam Morrison and Chris Dudley. Be sure to follow Gary on Instagram and keep up with his 2020 season in Vietnam.
This episode is sponsored by Companion Medical. If you are on multiple daily injections, but want the data and analytics pump users have available to them, then you need the In-Pen by Companion Medical. Learn more at Companion Medical’s website!