McKenzie Forbes

Personal: McKenzie Forbes is the daughter of Sasha and Sterling Forbes and was born in Beverly Hills, California. Her father played basketball at Texas State before enjoying a professional career in Argentina and with the Harlem Globetrotters. Her grandfather, Sterling Forbes, Sr., was an All-America basketball player at Pepperdine who was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1960 NBA Draft and also spent three years with the Harlem Globetrotters. She has three brothers, and her brother, Mason, played basketball at Harvard from 2019-22. She pursued a master’s degree in entrepreneurship and innovation at USC. Her favorite basketball player is Chelsea Gray. She played football as a child and enjoys reading and being in the community. She lists playing against Diana Taurasi during a preseason game with the Los Angeles Sparks as a time when she felt starstruck. Her proudest accomplishment is leading USC to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament, and she knows how to juggle.

2025 Season: Forbes closed her first Athletes Unlimited Pro Basketball season by accumulating 2,772 leaderboard points. She appeared in all 12 games and started against Team Westbrook in her AU debut on February 5. She averaged 4.1 points and 1.4 rebounds per game. She netted a season-high 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field against Team Harrison and also secured a season-high 573 leaderboard points after garnering MVP 2 notice. She collected 476 leaderboard points against Team Harrison on February 7 after scoring six points with two rebounds. She opened her Athletes Unlimited career with a season-high five rebounds in addition to scoring six points against Team Westbrook.

Other Professional Experience: Forbes was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the No. 28 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. She led the Waverley Falcons to an NBL1 South championship in 2024. She spent time with the Mainland Pouaki of the Tauihi League in New Zealand and registered a league single-game record of 39 points against the Tokomanawa Queens.

At USC: Forbes appeared in 124 career games, including 89 starts, during her college career. She started her career at California during the 2018-19 season before transferring to Harvard, where she played two seasons. She then closed her career at USC. She averaged 11.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game during her college career, also dishing out 293 assists with 90 steals. 

As a graduate student at USC, she started in all 35 games. She was a member of the All-Pac-12 Conference Team and scored 14.3 points per game while grabbing 3.1 rebounds per contest. Forbes was honored as the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 17.3 points per game during the postseason event. She was also a member of the NCAA Portland Region 3 All-Tournament Team. She netted a career-high 36 points at Long Beach State, including a 13-of-16 effort at the free-throw line. She sank six three-pointers against Kansas in the NCAA Second Round victory and scored her 1,000th career point against Cal Poly on November 28, 2023. Forbes also claimed a spot on the Cheryl Miller Award Top 10 list.

At Harvard: Forbes earned a starting assignment in 54 of 56 games and totaled 778 points with 217 rebounds. She served as a team captain during her senior season with the Crimson. As a starter in 31 of 32 contests, she averaged 13.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. She was a member of the 2022-23 Ivy League Madness All-Tournament Team and recorded 21 double-digit scoring performances, including 27 points against Columbia in the Ivy League Madness semifinal. As a junior, she was a Second-Team All-Ivy League selection after averaging 14.1 points per game. She tallied 10 or more points in a game 16 times, including a career-high 30 points against Penn on February 12, 2022. She did not play as a sophomore after the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

At California: As a freshman at California, she played in all 33 games and was an Honorable Mention selection on the 2018-19 Pac-12 Conference All-Freshman Team. During her freshman year, she averaged 5.3 points and 1.5 rebounds per game and netted a season-high 22 points against Harvard on December 30, 2018.