Gary Forbes on Playing in the NBA with Type 1 Diabetes and Building The Sole Survivors

Former NBA player Gary Forbes joins The Giving Game to talk about The Sole Survivors — a children's multimedia platform he created featuring superhero characters who each live with a different chronic health condition. Gary is one of only three players in NBA history to compete with type 1 diabetes, diagnosed at 19 after his freshman year of college, and he built The Sole Survivors as the project he wished existed for kids like him growing up on X-Men, Thundercats, and Power Rangers.Gary walks through the comic universe's concept — 102 characters, each representing a different chronic condition, all searching for a cure inside the story the way real kids search for ways to manage their own diagnoses — and why he built it for children specifically rather than adults, since kids are still forming the mindset they'll carry into adulthood. He shares what it's like visiting hospitals and schools with the books and merch, the "0.006%" odds he beat to reach the NBA as a type 1 diabetic, and his father's relentless positive-reinforcement parenting that shaped how he processed his diagnosis.The conversation also covers fatherhood (his two-and-a-half-year-old son, watching his wife go through a 42-hour unmedicated labor, and what it's like being "mom's baby" for the first year and "all dad" after), the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, his strict 80/20 plant-based diet, and Gary's newest obsession: golf, including his one-year goal of turning pro and his own golf apparel brand in the works, Hooks and Slices.If Gary's story moved you, you can support The Sole Survivors using the link below.What We Cover(01:43) What is The Sole Survivors, and why Gary built it(04:23) Why children — not adults — are the focus of the mission(10:35) Visiting hospitals and schools with the books and merch(15:33) The X-Men influence and the 102-character comic universe(22:49) Watching his wife's 42-hour unmedicated labor(28:26) The 10-year vision: "I want people to know The Sole Survivors like they know Disney"(29:12) Building the world's first health and wellness league app(33:00) Beating 0.006% odds: playing in the NBA with type 1 diabetes(37:12) Diagnosed at 19: the hardest first year with insulin and needles(40:20) Type 1 vs. type 2 diabetes, explained simply(42:04) Advice for anyone newly diagnosed with diabetes(43:34) Denouncing the stigma around what type 1 diabetics can and can't do(44:16) His strict 80% plant-based diet and the "Rolls-Royce" analogy(48:11) Taking up golf as "life's game" and chasing the pro tour(52:32) Gary's closing message: "Your present situation is not your final destination"(53:06) Where to donate to and follow The Sole SurvivorsAbout Gary ForbesGary Forbes is a former NBA player and one of only three athletes in league history to have played with type 1 diabetes. He is the founder of The Sole Survivors, a children's multimedia platform built around superhero characters who each represent a different chronic health condition, designed to help kids facing serious diagnoses see themselves as capable of greatness rather than limited by their circumstances.Support The Sole Survivors👉 Website: TheSoleSurvivors: https://thesolesurvivors.com (search "The Sole Survivors") 👉 Instagram: @GaryForbes_ — Follow The Sole SurvivorsCan't donate right now? Share the mission — tell a friend, a family member, anyone who might connect with the message.