Utah Jazz fan JP Gibson passes away at 16 after battle with cancer
Jun 26, 2026, 10:42 AM | Updated: Jun 29, 2026, 11:27 am
(Photo courtesy of Ravell Call, Deseret News) Jazz Bear holds JP Gibson as he greets Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert before NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. JP has leukemia.
(Photo courtesy of Ravell Call, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — After three separate battles with cancer, Utah Jazz super fan JP Gibson passed away on Thursday at 16 years old, his parents announced on social media.
In addition to the Jazz, Gibson was a massive fan of the Utes, Mammoth, New York Giants, and Atlanta Braves. His love for sports shined through as his fights with cancer were documented on Instagram.
View this post on Instagram
The caption on his post read:
Our sweet JP returned to heaven late yesterday afternoon. Our hearts are broken but we are so proud of the young man JP became. He was an amazing son, brother, cousin, friend and big cancer brother. He truly was #unbreakable . JP endured so much in his 16 years but you would have never known that if you had the chance to meet him. He consistently chose happiness over being angry and bitter at the hand life dealt him. Cancer never defined him and it definitely never broke him. We will be finding ways to #belikeJP and we will definitely need to be #jpstrong during this hard time. Thank you all for loving our boy.
His most recent fight with leukemia started in November 2023.
Gibson Inspired JPStrong Movement
Originally diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2012, Gibson beat the disease in 2015 before it returned in 2017.
Gibson’s Instagram page has followed both his battles with cancer and his life as a sports fan.
“He’s loved sports since day one,” Josh Gibson, JP’s father said. “At 12 months old, he’d just climb up on the couch and watch full games of basketball with me.”
The young fan has been a familiar face around the Jazz for the last decade after signing a one-day contract with the team in October 2014.
His presence around the team inspired the #JPStrong hashtag on social media which became a rallying cry for Jazz fans in the late 2010s.
The Jazz even designed a “JP Strong” t-shirt in 2017 with all proceeds going to the Gibson family.
After signing his contract, Gibson participated in the Jazz preseason scrimmage alongside Dante Exum, Rodney Hood, Gordon Hayward, and Rudy Gobert.
