Doug Collins, Veronica Escobar, Joe Golding react to death of basketball coach Jim Forbes
Aaron A. Bedoya
Jim Forbes, one of El Paso’s greatest basketball ambassadors, died Friday morning after a several-week stay in an El Paso hospital due to health issues.
"He was a mentor, a father-type figure," former assistant coach Rodney Lewis said. "He believed in me in basketball and in life. He had a great impact on people's lives and he enjoyed helping others. I got to know all of Jim Forbes in terms of basketball and life. He was always teaching and I learned so much from him."
Forbes, 69, graduated from Bel Air in 1970 and was named a High School All-American. He went on to play at UTEP, in the 1971 Pan American Games and the 1972 Olympics for the United States. At the Olympics, the United States lost the gold medal game to the Soviet Union in one of the most controversial finishes in Olympics history.
He won his 600th game in 2017 and earlier this season won his 700th game. Bel Air retired his No. 50 jersey and Riverside named the gym after him. Forbes was inducted into the UTEP Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011.
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