It was impressive enough in its own right and on its own terms. USC’s McKenzie Forbes carried the Trojans to an 85-77 win over Long Beach State on Thursday, keeping the Women of Troy unbeaten at 10-0 on the season. Forbes scored 36 points on a day when superstar JuJu Watkins, star defender Rayah Marshall, and valuable role player Kaitlyn Davis were all unavailable to play.
A role player stepping up and scoring 36 points to lift a team to victory on the road when that team’s three best players are out of the lineup? That’s incredible in itself. Forbes’ performance, without any added details or context, was and is supremely amazing and genuinely spectacular.
How could it get any better? How could this extraordinary performance become any more special or iconic?
Guess what: McKenzie Forbes had the flu during this game. Yep. That’s right. This was her flu game. This was her Michael Jordan moment.
Thuc Nhi Nguyen of the Los Angeles Times reported on the story, gathering an instant reaction from USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb.
“Kenzie had her flu game that I’m never going to forget my whole life,” Gottlieb said. “What a warrior.”
Forbes, being a team-first player, focused on how her teammates banded together without three missing stars:
“Just a huge credit to this group,” Forbes said. “We came out and got it done, missing a lot of big pieces.”
Forbes is being modest. This was her flu game, a callback to Michael Jordan’s 1997 NBA Finals flu game for the Chicago Bulls versus the Utah Jazz. Jordan’s memorable performance lifted the Bulls to a Game 5 win and helped Chicago win the NBA championship in six games.
McKenzie Forbes wasn’t playing in the NBA Finals, but no one at USC will forget what she did on Thursday.
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