Forbes made his first NBA team Monday after years of bouncing around universities, Europe and the NBA Development League.
Teammate Carmelo Anthony is happy to welcome Forbes to the Nuggets for the regular season, and the All-Star believes he can be a factor in their playoff aspirations.
"He's an NBA player," Anthony told the Denver Post. "He's got an NBA body, a guy who's willing to learn. He's just a good addition to the team."
Head coach George Karl said Forbes deserved to be on his roster because of his work ethic, intensity and scrappiness. He even compared Forbes to Denver’s former defensive specialist, Dahntay Jones.
"I've always had work ethic, playing for Travis Ford at UMass," Forbes said. "It comes as second nature for me to try to always work harder than somebody else."
The Brooklyn native transferred to UMass from the University of Virginia after his sophomore season. While at UMass, Forbes was named the 2007-08 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and was a first-team all-conference selection. In his senior season, he was crowned the A-10’s co-scoring champion with 610 points.
He led the Minutemen to the NIT Championship finals at Madison Square Garden in 2008, averaging 14.8 points in five NIT games. He was named to the NIT All-Tournament Team for his exceptional tournament.
UMass finished that season with a 25-11 record, the fifth-most wins in school history.
