NEVER SAY DIE, NEVER SAY IT’S OVER
I won a Championship in my years in Brazil while playing for the famous great club Fluminense, I shared that Brazilian basketball feat with Oscar, as he too had won a Championship with rival Flamengo. But this was only one of the things we had in common.
Our basketball history extended back to the days when we were both attempting to play for the New Jersey Nets basketball team in the NBA.
A few months ago, in April 2026, I heard the news that Oscar had finally lost his 15 year battle with brain cancer. I was deeply saddened to learn of the news. I I shook my head and smiled in disbelief at how long he fought that battle against the grim reaper and inevitable outcome. Years ago, I knew he would not quickly or easily give in to the grim reaper. He would never stop trying to score points.
No matter what the score or the clock showed to the fans, Oscar always believed there was a chance for a comeback in every game he played , throughout his 36 year basketball playing career. With Oscar’s rapid fire point scoring right hand, he usually was being realistic about your chances for victory. Nobody could score points like Oscar Schmidt. He remains the Olympic all-time scoring leader. His scoring records can fill books.
That’s why he was nicknamed ‘The Hand of God’.
My debt to Oscar was immense, I am sure God knows about it. I don’t think anyone on earth knows.
He had shattered any illusions that I was at the end of my career in the summer of 1984, as we sat for breakfast for days at a hotel in Princeton New Jersey.
It was 2012 the last time I saw him, it was many years after my 7 year professional career had ended and his life long career came to a stop while playing in Rio de Janiero Brazil. It’s what at this time he was telling me about his health issues. In 2013, he had brain surgery.
Oscar fell in love with basketball as a child, just as I had. By the age of 16, in 1974, he was playing basketball for money in Brazil. If you correctly understood college basketball’s true financial nature and system regarding basketball revenues in the 1980’s; I too was playing basketball for money at the age of 17, as a Freshman at the University of Utah. The difference was the money Oscar played for went into his pocket and the millions of dollars I helped win for the University went into somebody else’s pocket. Oscar was the first person who taught me how to put money into my pocket playing for European basketball. He was a top earning player for years in the Italian basketball League.
The Basketball Scoring ‘Hand of God’ Returns to Brazil … .. to score lots more buckets … !
Corinthians and Bandeirantes
Schmidt returned to his native Brazil in September 1995, after 13 years in Europe, to once again play in the Brazilian Basketball Championship.
His debut came on 12 September 1995 in the São Paulo State Championship scoring 47 points for S.C. Corinthians Paulista against Bozzano/Jales.
He was a member of S.C. Corinthians Paulista, from 1995 to 1997. He then signed for Grêmio Barueri Bandeirantes / Mackenzie under coach Marcel de Souza a former teammate in the national team. He played there, from 1997 to 1999, and he consequently finished his club career with C.R. Flamengo, where he played from 1999 to 2003.
With Corinthians Paulista, he won the Brazilian Championship in 1996. He was the second scorer in the 1996 São Paulo State Championship averaging 32.2 points… … and the top scorer in 1997 with 41.9 points per game. During the 1997 National championship he would surpass the mark of 40,000 career points after scoring 41 in a game against Barueri/Bandeirantes.
As a member of Grêmio Barueri Bandeirantes, he won the São Paulo State Championship in 1998, averaging 33.3 points. It was the first in the club’s history while Oscar became a Paulista champion again, after 19 years (then with Sirio, in 1979). With Grêmio Barueri Bandeirantes, Schmidt, at the age of 39, scored 74 points in a São Paulo State Championship game on 28 November 1997.
Flamengo
On September 8, 1999 he debuted for Flamengo in a comfortable victory over Municipal and got a standing ovation by the fans. On December 1, 1999, with a free throw, he reached the historic mark of 43,000 career points. On November 30, 2000, he reached 45,000 career points during the Flamengo-Botafogo game (118-107) in the Rio de Janeiro State Championship.
As a member of Flamengo, he won the Rio de Janeiro State Championship in 1999 being the top scorer with 647 pts. He also led Flamengo to the National Finals finishing runners-up, a distinction that the club never had before 1999.
Two years later, on April 8, 2001 he came a step closer to become basketball’s leading scorer, after he scored 34 pts in the Flamengo-Fluminense match (92-90) for the National league and he reached 46,014 career points.
On October 27, 2001, he scored 44 pts in the Flamengo-Fluminense match (108-106) for the RJ State Championship and he finally surpassed the mark of 46.725 pts scored by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, … … …
… … becoming basketball’s all-time scorer!
Oscar had announced that he would retire on 16 May 2002, but a week after a controversial match in which COC/Ribeirao Preto coached by Lula Ferreira eliminated Flamengo in the National Championship quarterfinals (84-78) with Oscar being expelled by the referee, he took it back admitting to the press that he would play for one more year.[
Eventuatlly, at the end of 2002 Schmidt helped Flamengo win the Rio de Janeiro State Championship.
Schmidt was the Brazilian Championship’s top scorer in each of his last eight seasons playing in the competition (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003). That was in addition to the two times that he had previously led the same competition in scoring, in 1979 and 1980.
Schmidt retired from his club basketball playing career on May 26, 2003, at the age of 45,
… a career scoring average of 32.6 points per game.
If you read this paragraph, you now understand his Oscar’s nickname, Oscar Schmidt could score points. From the age of 16 to the age of 45 Oscar scored buckets!
A Common Bond
Oscar fell in love with basketball as a child, just as I had. By the age of 16, in 1974, he was playing basketball for money in Brazil. If you correctly understood college basketball’s true financial nature and system regarding basketball revenues in the 1980’s; I too was playing basketball for money at the age of 17, as a Freshman at the University of Utah. The difference was the money Oscar played for went into his pocket and the millions of dollars I helped win for the University went into somebody else’s pocket. Oscar was the first person who taught me how to put money into my pocket playing for European basketball. He was a top earning player for years in the Italian basketball League.
Date: June 25, 2026
Title: Shattered Illusions
By: doctor Dunkenstein (a.k.a. Christopher Lee Winans)
Oscar Schmidt shattered any illusions I had that my basketball career had little or no value by the second day after we met in August 1984 at the NBA tryout camp.
Oscar Schmidt was a person that shattered my false self-believable illusion that my basketball career was ending, and I wasn’t worth much as a basketball player.
In June of 1984, while I was working at the Dean Smith – Bill Guthridge Carolina Basketball School, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, I got news that I was drafted by the New Jersey Nets as the 177th pick in the NBA draft.
I had given up any hope that I might play high level competitive basketball in my life.
After my academic Senior year ended at Utah and a month earlier in May 1984, I had played in front of some Nets scouts and coaches in Jersey City, during a tryout camp for European professional players, potential college prospects and in view of lots of professional scouts.
At the May tryout camp, the guys from the Nets told me it was their intention to bring me into the August tryout camp held in Princeton, New Jersey. They would pay my travel expenses and provide a daily stipend for my participation. I was not sure this was a legitimate statement or offer from these Net people, as I had not heard anything from the organization until I got the news I had been drafted. I had found lots of people say lots of things in the basketball business for reasons you may not understand. Take every promise and compliment with a grain of salt.
I was under no illusion that I would make the NBA Professional squad at New Jersey August camp. However, I was informed lots of European scouts would be in attendance and my chance of landing a contract with a European team would be increased if I played well during the Nets camp.
So, I prepared for August and got myself back into top physical and mental basketball shape. It wasn’t far to get into shape as I was in excellent snow skiing shape after spending time in the Utah snowy mountains.
When I arrived at camp, I was ready to play ball. So were 30 other basketball players on the court during that first day at the New Jersey Nets camp. I got my first dose of professional basketball in the locker room after that first practice. An assistant coach walked into the locker room and in front of everyone, handed 10 guys return plane tickets back home. I was somewhat in shock. Now the 30 guys were down to 20. They repeated the same process on day two of the camp. The number was cut to about 12 players. I was happy I was still there at camp.
One other guy who made the cuts and lasted with me until the final camp day was, Oscar Schmidt, a Brazilian basketball player who was playing professionally in Italy at that time, but had come to the Nets camp to get a ‘feel out’ and test the waters for a potential NBA transfer.
I had no idea how basketball worked in Europe. Oscar was a well informed high paid experienced professional European and Brazilian player.
They put Oscar and I on the same team during the full clock and refereed night games. I think they knew I would be the guy to set screens for him so he could demonstrate how he shot the basketball every time he touched it, and I wouldn’t complain about his ball hog techniques. Somebody also had to get their butt down the court fast on defense when he shot the ball from everywhere on the court. I was their man for the job.
After teasing Oscar at breakfast on the second day of camp, that he should pass me the ball at least once during a game, he said, “no way man, I’m gonna give them 1 point per minute, yes, one point every minute, passing is not why I am here, I am here to show them I can score. But hey, sit down, I will buy you breakfast.” Oscar could score points faster than anybody I had ever played with in my life.
I laughed at Oscar’s honest remark and sat for breakfast with Oscar Schmidt on that day and everyday for the rest of the week. We played together on the same team. On the court, I set the screens, he fired up the shots, and we ate breakfast together everyday. We also won a lot of games that week.
I would banter back at him, if you would set those screens for me on those big strong players down in the lane, like I do for you every night, I would score forty points a game just like you. Then I would toss in an extra hog ball comment or two. Oscar would just laugh at me, then he would respond by asking, “you want some more orange juice, Brazil has the best orange juice in the world, and great basketball teams. You should go play in Brazil.”
Little did I know at that time, his suggestion of playing in Brazil was prophetic. Seven years later, after a long European career, I played professional basketball in Brazil.
Oscar became a friend. He told me to wait don’t sign a contract with any agents in the United States. Go to Europe first before signing a contract, He said this to me after playing days with me as a teammate, he was 100% sure that was the right thing for me to do. I would tell him about the contract offers I was receiving from different European agents and over the phone offers I was getting daily. I was afraid I would blow my chance of playing in Europe if I did not accept the offers I was getting during the tryout camp. But Oscar insisted, I must wait, be patient. He told me that the offers being made here in New Jersey by agents and on the phone were not representative of my full actual value. He encouraged me to go after more money.
I trusted him and followed his advice. I waited to sign a contract until I was physically in Europe.
My true realistic objective of participating in the Nets camp materialized. A representative of the Nets approached me on the last day of the camp, he informed me that I had been one of the ten players selected for a traveling squad which would play multiple games in Greece, Italy and Israel. It was an all expense paid offer, paid for by someone or something related to the Nets organization. It was a squad which appeared to be made of of the best guys who got cut at the camp and perhaps we were players the Nets wanted to have play in Europe for teams they knew in order to track any progress.
I was thrilled, and in three days I was in Greece playing against Nikko Galis in front of 20,000 screaming Greeks. Nick Galis was another scoring, bomb thrower, hogball, bucket making basketball star. I will never forget that game. We lost a close game.
The crowd thought we were the United States Olympic team, due to some intentional false promotional ticket sales scheme in the newspapers prior to the game. The sold out Greek crowd thought they had beaten the US Olympic team by 4 points. This glorious Greek victory didn’t stop the fans after the game from cheering , flag waving and gathering groups of wild crazy happy fans in order to push against our team bus to rock it back and forth, it was just a little fun to join their jubilation. This was my first experience of Euro fandom, these people loved basketball. They were wild in victory. It was just normal behavior to them, football (soccer) had made these fans more enthusiastic in Europe than the US. I didn’t want to see what they were like in defeat, at least not yet.
After 2 weeks of playing and traveling in Europe, I would sign onto a team in Israel.
Oscar Schmidt always encouraged me to go after more money, first. Get paid before you play. Advice that served me well, as I watched so very many American players have financial difficulties with their respective club teams. I never had an money difficulties or issues with my clubs. I followed my self appointed Israeli agent , Avi, and he operated by the rules of Oscar. Get your cash up front.
[See my presentation on this website about, Avi ,“The Self Appointed Sports Agent”, who operated over morning coffee and orange juice from the Tel Aviv Hilton Beach front hotel. ]
Money was the reason Oscar Schmidt did not sign a contract to play in the NBA.
Yes, it was true, Oscar wasn’t willing sacrifice his International basketball license to give up his right to play for Brazil in the Olympics and other International competition.. However, the amount of money offered by the Nets wasn’t going to make Oscar abandon his yearly salary and team in Italy. He made it perfectly clear to me during our breakfast time in Princeton.
The Nets wanted him to play for about $150,000 US. Minimum salary was around $100,000 per year at that time. Oscar was making $250,000 per year to play in Italy. He was a star and Italian champion. He didn’t pay tax on his salary in Italy. All of his living and international travel expenses were covered by the club above and beyond his yearly contract salary. The US government would take 33% tax off the top. It just did not make dollars and sense, (cents) , for Oscar to accept a contract for less money from the New Jersey Nets just to say he played in the NBA. He promised me I would play for a team in Europe under the same general principals. Minimum salary in the NBA got eaten by expenses and taxes. Road trips, travel burgers and hot dogs at 41 airports, apartments and high end social life would eat and devour a minimum rookie salary. He spoke of a better quality of life and a bigger bank account everyday at breakfast
Oscar was correct. I played basketball professionally for two years in Israel, three years in Germany, and two years in South America, for more money and benefits than anyone offered me in the New Jersey Nets tryout camp. I had more money in a U.S. bank account every year – due to the Reagan new $60,000 expatriate tax laws – than my rookie friends had in their accounts at the end of the season. They sat on the bench and watched games. I played in every game and celebrated scoring buckets.
Oscar was the first to encourage me to be offensively selfish in European basketball. I followed this advice too. After a few years, I improved my scoring abilities immensely.
We stayed in touch. I was happy to have made a good friend in Oscar. But I still never taught him how to pass as well as he could shoot basketball.
Oscar taught me all of these business details over breakfast each morning. In the evenings, I continued to set lots of screens for him to shoot the ball, he did eventually pass me the ball a few times. I was grateful for the assist and more thankful for all the professional business advice. We became friends.
Many years later, I found myself in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, playing for Fluminense, Oscar and I had moved up to dinner dates and coffee in sidewalk cafes for our friendly conversations and stories. He was a delightfully loveable person who loved playing basketball, as much as I loved playing the game.
I mourned his death, and glorified his friendship.
Brazilian Basketball Legend
Oscar Daniel Bezerra Schmidt – Nicknamed; Mão Santa (Holy Hand)
Must watch: ‘Only Live For The Love of The Game’, Oscar Schmidt Hall of Fame Speech. It was a good life. Listen carefully, filter through his English as his 4th Language difficulties. He renders the emotions recalling his Brazilian youth only wanting to play basketball, and how he first encountered his wife. Oscar played professionally 26 seasons, until he was 45 years-of-age. The last word was, ‘Oscar’ remains in the game coaching youth basketball.
Oscar Daniel Bezerra Schmidt – Nicknamed; Mão Santa (Holy Hand)
Must watch: ‘Only Live For The Love of The Game’, Oscar Schmidt Hall of Fame Speech. It was a good life. Listen carefully, filter through his English as his 4th Language difficulties. He renders the emotions recalling his Brazilian youth only wanting to play basketball, and how he first encountered his wife. Oscar played professionally 26 seasons, until he was 45 years-of-age. The last word was, ‘Oscar’ remains in the game coaching youth basketball.
Brazilian basketball legend and Hall of Famer Oscar Schmidt passed away on April 17, 2026, at the age of 68. Known as “Mão Santa” (Holy Hand), he is celebrated as one of the greatest international scorers in basketball history, holding the all-time Olympic record with 1,093 points
Oscar Schmidt’s family released a statement confirming he passed away peacefully following a courageous 15-year battle with a brain tumor. Prior to his passing, Schmidt had been hospitalized in Santana de Parnaíba (near São Paulo, Brazil) after experiencing a medical emergency
Warning: You May Start To Samba Dance if You Remain of This Website.
Fat Hat Collectibles is presenting Sports the Brazilian Way. … … … What’s the Brazilian way to watch sports, turn on soccer/football/futbol on the TV, without commentary and no sound. Listen to relaxing Brazilian Music in the background. Watch how fluid the athletes move. Try it, here, now, you might enjoy it. Simply click the Brazilian Cafe’ Music video button (located above) to the on position, then scroll. It’s been known to make the wife happy as well.
Watch the great athletes ‘dance’ below.
All other videos should be in motion but muted while watching.
Hope you make it to the bottom of this page to enjoy our tribute to the ‘Brazilian’ icon, Great Sports Superstar and lifetime Sports Memorabilia contributor and creator, ‘Oscar”
The website Brazilian music turn off switch is in the new ‘Oscar’s Collector’s Tribute Section’. Oscar took control of the remote control. It’s in his hands now … … … we hope he doesn’t try to toss it from 40 feet away, just like many of his basketball shots he took on the court for 45 years. It’s Oscar’s weekend on FatHatCollectibles.com
Schmidt in 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | February 16, 1958 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 1984: 6th round, 131st overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | New Jersey Nets | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 1974–2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Small forward / power forward | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 6, 11, 14, 18 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1978 | S.E. Palmeiras | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1982 | E.C. Sírio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | América do Rio | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1982–1990 | JuveCaserta | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1993 | Pavia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1995 | Valladolid | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1995–1997 | S.C. Corinthians Paulista | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Bandeirantes / Mackenzie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2003 | C.R. Flamengo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Stats at Basketball Reference | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basketball Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FIBA Hall of Fame | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Oscar Daniel Bezerra Schmidt (born February 16, 1958), nicknamed Mão Santa (Holy Hand), is a Brazilian retired professional basketball player. Schmidt primarily played the power forward and small forward position, was 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) tall and weighed 109 kg (240 lbs). Along with his home country, Schmidt also played in Italy for JuveCaserta and Pavia, and Spain for Fórum Valladolid.[1] He was born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
He was considered to be the all-time leading scorer in the history of basketball, with 49,973 career points scored (pro club league play, plus senior Brazilian national team play combined), until LeBron James broke this record on April 2, 2024.[2] He is the record holder for the longest career span of a professional basketball player at 29 years. He is also the top scorer in the history of the Summer Olympic Games, and the top scorer in the history of the FIBA World Cup.
He was named one of FIBA’s 50 Greatest Players in 1991. He received the Olympic Order in 1997. On August 20, 2010, Schmidt became a FIBA Hall of Fame player, in recognition of his play in international competitions.[3] On September 8, 2013, Schmidt was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.[4] He was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
Youth club career
Schmidt played youth club basketball in the youth systems of S.E. Palmeiras and Mackenzie College. With Palmeiras’s youth teams, he scored 2,114 points in 85 games, for a scoring average of 24.9 points per game. With Mackenzie’s youth teams, he scored 1,332 points in 36 games, for a scoring average of 37.0 points per game.
Professional career
Brazil
Schmidt began his professional club career in 1974, at the age of 16, with the Brazilian Championship club S.E. Palmeiras. As a member of Palmeiras, he won the São Paulo State Championship in 1974, and the Brazilian Championship in 1977.
In 1978, he moved to the Brazilian club E.C. Sírio under coach Cláudio Mortari who signed him. As a member of Sírio, Schmidt won the São Paulo State Championship in both 1978 and 1979, and the Brazilian Championship in 1979. He scored 40 points in the 1979 final (held in January 1980) and help Sirio win the title against Francana.[5] With Sírio, he also won the South American Club Championship, and the FIBA Intercontinental Cup title in 1979. He scored 42 points in the 1979 FIBA Intercontinental Cup’s Final against the Yugoslav First Federal League club Bosna Sarajevo.[6] Schmidt was the top scorer of the Brazilian Championship in both 1979 and 1980.
In 1982, Schmidt joined the Brazilian club América do Rio. However, he only stayed with the club for a brief amount of time.[7]
JuveCaserta
For the 1982–83 season, Schmidt joined the Italian 2nd Division club JuveCaserta. With JuveCaserta, he played in the first division level Italian League, for the first time in the 1983–84 season being the leading scorer of the Serie A with 955 points in 34 games. That same season, Schmidt played in a Pan-European club competition for the first time, as he also played in Europe’s third-tier level FIBA Korać Cup’s 1983–84 season. Schmidt played in Europe’s 2nd-tier level competition, the FIBA European Cup Winners’ Cup (later renamed to FIBA Saporta Cup), for the first time, in the 1984–85 season.
With JuveCaserta, he won the Italian Cup title in 1988. In the European-wide secondary level 1988–89 FIBA European Cup Winners’ Cup’s Final, Schmidt scored 44 points against the Spanish club Real Madrid. However, Real Madrid’s star player Dražen Petrović, scored 62 points in the same game, and JuveCaserta lost the game, by a score of 117–113.[8]
Schmidt led the Italian top division in scoring six times, while he was a member of JuveCaserta (1983–84, 1984–85, 1985-86, 1986–87, 1988–89, and 1989–90 seasons). JuveCaserta eventually retired Schmidt’s #18 jersey.
Pavia
In 1990, Schmidt joined the Italian 2nd Division club Pavia. With Pavia, Schmidt led the Italian 2nd Division in scoring, in both the 1990–91 and 1992–93 seasons. With Pavia, he also led the first division Italian League in scoring, during the 1991–92 season scoring 1760 pts in 40 games (44.0 average). He was also a member of the FIBA European Selection in 1991.
As a member of Pavia, Schmidt also had his highest scoring single game in the top division Italian League, as he scored 66 points in a 1991–92 season game versus Auxilium Torino, on 30 November 1991.[9][10] Pavia eventually retired his #11 jersey.
While playing club basketball in Italy, Schmidt earned a fan in future NBA star Kobe Bryant. At that time, Bryant was a young child that was living in Italy, while his father, Joe Bryant, played professional basketball in the country. Bryant called Schmidt one of his childhood idols,[11] and also stated that Schmidt could have been one of the greatest players in the NBA, if he had played in the league.[12]
Overall during his club career in Italy, Schmidt was the Top Scorer of the Italian First Division seven times (1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, and 1991–92 seasons). In 2017, Schmidt was inducted into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame.
Valladolid
In 1993, Schmidt joined the Spanish ACB League club Valladolid. With Valladolid, Schmidt was the Spanish league’s top scorer in the 1993–94 season, with a scoring average of 33.3 points per game, in 33 games played (regular season and playoffs). On 19 March 1994, Schmidt made 11 3-point field goals, in a Spanish League game against Murcia.[13]
Schmidt also spent the 1994–95 season with Valladolid. In that season, he averaged 24.0 points per game, in 38 games played. His single-game scoring high in the Spanish League, was in a game that season versus Málaga, in which he scored 47 points, and made all 8 of his 3-point field goal attempts.[14]
In two seasons in the Spanish ACB, Schmidt scored a total of 2,009 points in 71 games played (regular season and playoffs), for a scoring average of 28.3 points per game.[15]
Schmidt was the Brazilian Championship’s top scorer in each of his last eight seasons playing in the competition (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003). That was in addition to the two times that he had previously led the same competition in scoring, in 1979 and 1980.
Schmidt retired from his club basketball playing career on May 26, 2003, at the age of 45, opting not to play in the upcoming Rio de Janeiro State Championship. His final game was against COC/Ribeirão on May 21, 2003. Flamengo then eventually retired his #14 jersey. Up to that day he had scored 49,703 points, then a world record though it was not recognised by FIBA officially.[25]
During his club playing career, Oscar scored a total of 42,044 points, in 1,289 games played, for a career scoring average of 32.6 points per game. He also scored a total of 236 points in All-Star Games. However, those totals do not include all of the games that he played in during his pro club career, as the data for some of the national cup games, Pan-European games, and all-star games that he played in Europe are not available.
NBA draft rights
Schmidt was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in the sixth round of the 1984 NBA draft, and he played with them in their 1984 NBA training camp and preseason. However, he declined the club’s offer of a fully guaranteed contract, because it was for considerably less money than he made at the time playing in Italy, and also because to accept the team’s contract offer would have meant that he could no longer represent the senior Brazilian national team. That was because until 1989, NBA players were not allowed to play for national teams.[26]
National team career
Junior national team
Schmidt played in the youth systems of Brazil’s national federation program. He played in 15 games with the junior selection of São Paulo, with which he scored 393 points in 15 games, for a scoring average of 26.2 points per game. He also played in 31 games with Brazil’s national junior selection, in which he scored a total of 569 points, for a scoring average of 18.4 points per game.
Senior national team
With the senior Brazil national team, Schmidt played in five Summer Olympics (he was the second player to do so after Teófilo Cruz) and was the top scorer in three of them. However, he never went past the tournament’s quarterfinals. In the 1980 Summer Olympics, he played in seven games and scored 169 points, for a 24.1 average.
He again scored 169 points in seven games in the 1984 Summer Olympics. His best Olympic performance was the 1988 Summer Olympics. At that tournament, he scored 338 points, for an average of 42.3 points per game. In 1992, he scored 198 points in eight games, and in 1996, he scored 219 points in 8 games. In 38 career Olympic basketball games, Schmidt scored a record of 1,093 points, for an average of 28.8 points per game.
Schmidt is also the all-time career leader in total points scored in the FIBA World Cup, having scored a total of 843 points in 33 games, for a scoring average of 25.5 points per game. He won the bronze medal and made the All-Tournament Team at the 1978 FIBA World Cup, and he also made the All-Tournament Teams of both the 1986 FIBA World Cup and the 1990 FIBA World Cup, which he also led in scoring, with an average of 34.6 points per game.
Schmidt played in the gold-medal match of the 1987 Pan American Games, which was held in Indianapolis. The US national team, which was composed of NCAA Division I college basketball players at those games, featured two All-Americans in David Robinson (Hall of Fame member) and Danny Manning, two NCAA Championship Final Four MVPs, in Pervis Ellison and Keith Smart, and other future NBA players, such as Rex Chapman, Pooh Richardson, and Willie Anderson. Brazil faced a 68–54 halftime deficit. However, Schmidt finished the game with 46 points, in a 120–115 win for Brazil.
In 1996, at the age of 38, Schmidt retired from playing with the senior Brazilian national team as its all-time leading scorer. While representing Brazil, he scored a total of 7,693 points in 326 games played, for a career scoring average of 23.6 points per game.[27] In 1997, Schmidt was given the Olympic Order award.
Post-athletic career
In 2004, Schmidt started his career in management. He was the CEO of “Telemar Rio de Janeiro”, a Brazilian professional basketball team which won the “Campeonato Carioca” (Rio de Janeiro State Championship) in 2004, and the Brazilian Championship in 2005.
In 2006, Schmidt, along with other Brazilian basketball greats such as Paula and Hortência, (another Hall of Fame member), led the NLB: Nossa Liga de Basquete (“our basketball league”), an attempted rival to the Brazilian Basketball Championship. However, the league folded a year later.
Personal life
Oscar is married since 1981 to Maria Cristina Victorino, and has a son Felipe, and a daughter, Stephanie.[28] Felipe played with Oscar in his last season in Flamengo before deciding to be a director.[29] His brother Tadeu Schmidt is a journalist, and his nephew Bruno Oscar Schmidt is a beach volleyballer.
On May 13, 2013, Schmidt had brain surgery to excise a malignant tumor.[30] At first, nobody knew about it except for his family. The press found out about the disease fifteen days after the surgery, at a dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the two-time FIBA World Champion senior men’s Brazilian National Team. Schmidt did not appear at the event, as he was recuperating from daily chemotherapy sessions. The disease was later put into remission.[30]
In 2016, Schmidt was one of the guests at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, alongside other Brazilian celebrities, such as model Gisele Bündchen, actor Gustavo Goulart, and singer Caetano Veloso.
Senior club teams
- S.E. Palmeiras: Brazilian Basketball Championship: 1974–78
- E.C. Sírio: Brazilian Basketball Championship: 1978–82
- América do Rio: Brazilian Basketball Championship: 1982
- JuveCaserta: Italian Second Division: 1982–83
- JuveCaserta: Italian Basketball League: 1983–90
- Pavia: Italian Second Division: 1990–91
- Pavia: Italian Basketball League: 1991–92
- Pavia: Italian Second Division: 1992–93
- Valladolid: Spanish Basketball League: 1993–95
- S.C. Corinthians Paulista: Brazilian Basketball Championship: 1995–97
- Bandeirantes / Mackenzie: Brazilian Basketball Championship: 1997–99
- C.R. Flamengo: Brazilian Basketball Championship: 1999–2003
Career statistics
| ★ | Won the tournament in that year |
| Topscorer of the competition |
Italian Serie A1
Regular season and play-offs [a]
| Year | Club | PJ | MP | RT | AS | PT | PPJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983-84 | Juve Caserta | 34 | 955 | 28.0 | |||
| 1984-85 | 38 | 1,140 | 30.0 | ||||
| 1985-86 | 40 | 1,226 | 30.6 | ||||
| 1986-87 | 39 | 1,316 | 33.7 | ||||
| 1987-88 | ? | ? | 37.3 | ||||
| 1988-89 | ? | 1283 | 35.6 | ||||
| 1989-90 | ? | 33,1 [b] | |||||
| 1991-92★ | Pavia | ? | 1120 | 37.7 [c] |
Italian Serie A2
Regular season and play-offs.
| Year | Club | PJ | MP | RT | AS | PT | PPJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990-91★ | Pavia | 40 | 1761 | 43.6 [d] | |||
| 1992-93 | ? | ? | 39.2 [e] |
ACB League
Regular season and play-offs.
| Year | Club | PJ | MP | RT | AS | PT | PPJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993-94 [31] | Forum Valladolid | 28 | 930 | 33.2 | |||
| 1994-95 [32] | 38 | 911 | 23.9 |
Campeonato Nacional Brazil
| Year | Club | PJ | MPJ | FG% | 3P% | LL% | RT | AS | BR | TO | PPJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996★ | Corinthians | 31 | 34.3 | .588 | .485 | .881 | 9.8 | .8 | .6 | .2 | 30.9 |
| 1997 | 26 | 37.6 | .530 | .504 | .880 | 10.5 | 1.3 | .6 | .3 | 38.2 | |
| 1998 | Banco Bandeirantes/Barueri | 28 | 38.6 | .541 | .440 | .903 | 11.5 | 1.4 | .6 | .2 | 44.8 |
| 1999 | Mackenzie-Microcamp/Barueri | 36 | 42.2 | .573 | .464 | .913 | 10.8 | 1.7 | .7 | .3 | 38.2 |
| 2000 | Flamengo | 38 | 37.9 | .543 | .389 | .862 | 9.6 | 1.7 | .5 | .1 | 34.9 |
| 2001 | 34 | 36.9 | .483 | .457 | .899 | 8.8 | 1.3 | .6 | .1 | 33.0 | |
| 2002 | 34 | 37.1 | .516 | .403 | .908 | 8.3 | 1.9 | .6 | .2 | 34.8 | |
| 2003 | 31 | 36.3 | .495 | .451 | .924 | 7.5 | 2.0 | .5 | .2 | 33.1 |
FIBA World Cup and Olympics
| Year | Tournament | PJ | MPJ | FG% | 3P% | LL% | RT | AS | BR | TO | PPJ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | FIBA World Cup | 9 | – | – | – | .688 | – | – | – | – | 17.7 |
| 1980 | Olympics | 7 | 29.4 | .548 | – | .875 | 6.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | .0 | 24.1 |
| 1982 | FIBA World Cup | 6 | – | – | – | .700 | – | – | – | – | 21.0 |
| 1984 | Olympics | 7 | 26.7 | .524 | – | .781 | 4.7 | 0.7 | 1.0 | .0 | 24.1 |
| 1986 | FIBA World Cup | 10 | – | – | – | .764 | – | – | – | – | 28.1 |
| 1988 | Olympics | 8 | 36.0 | .576 | .556 | .918 | 7.8 | 1.6 | 0.6 | .4 | 42.3 |
| 1990 | FIBA World Cup | 8 | – | – | – | .873 | – | – | – | – | 34.6 |
| 1992 | Olympics | 8 | 31.8 | .324 | .378 | .889 | 3.5 | 0.6 | 2.1 | .0 | 24.8 |
| 1996 | Olympics | 8 | 32.9 | .475 | .381 | .953 | 3,1 | 1.0 | 0,5 | .0 | 27.4 |
Games and points
Youth
- Palmeiras 85 (2.114 pts) – PPG 24,8
- Mackenzie 36 (1.332 pts) – PPG 37
- Paulista Selection team: 15 (393 pts) – PPG 26,2
- Brasil Youth national team: 31 (569 pts) – PPG 18,3
Professional
- Palmeiras: 82 (2.033 pts) – PPG 24,8
- Sírio: 146 (4.351 pts) – PPG 29,8
- América do Rio: n/a
- Juvecaserta: 284 (9.143 pts)
- Pavia: 119 (4.814 pts)
- Forum Valladolid: 71 (2.009 pts)
- Corinthians: 131 (4.270 pts) – PPG 32,5
- Bandeirantes: 117 (3.570 pts)
- baureri Mackenzie/Microcamp: 120 (4.613 pts) – PPG 38,4
- Flamengo 219 (7.241 pts) – PPG 33.0
Italy and Spain totals
- Italy: 403 (13.957) – PPG 34,6
- Spain: 71 (2.009) – PPG 28,2
Brazil League totals (1996-2003)
- Campeonato: 258 (9.096) – PPG 35,2
Cups totals
- Cups: 117 (3.570) – PPG 30,5
National team
- Brasil national team: 326 (7.693 pts) – PPG 23,5
All-Star Games
- ULEB All-Star Game: 3 (46 pts) – PPG 15,3
- Lega Basket All Star Game: 9 (224 pts) – PPG 24.9
Honors and awards
Summer Olympics Records
- All-time leading points scorer: 1,093 points
- Most total points scored in a tournament: 338 points
- Highest per game scoring average in a tournament: 42.3 points per game
- Most points scored in a single game: 55 points
- Oldest player to score 40 or more points in a single game: 38 years and 155 days (scored 45 points)
- Tied for most tournament appearances by a men’s basketball player: 5 (tied with Teófilo Cruz, Andrew Gaze, Luis Scola, and Juan Carlos Navarro)
Individual
- Considered basketball’s unofficial second all-time leader in points scored:
- 49,973 career total points scored in 1,626 games played (30.7 points per game):
- 42,044 career points scored in 1,289 professional club games played (32.6 points per game).
- 7,693 points scored in 326 Brazilian national team games played (23.6 points per game).
- 13,957 points scored in the Italian League during his 11 seasons there. During the 1990-91 season he became the first player to score more than 10,000 points in the Italian Championship.
- 236 points scored in 11 career All-Star Games played where scoring data is available (21.5 points per game). 186 points scored in 7 Italian League All-Star Games played, 46 points scored in 3 ULEB All-Star Games played, and 4 points scored in the NBA All-Star Game (as a celebrity). Schmidt also played in the FIBA All-Star Game in 1991, but no individual points scored total is available for that game.
- Brazilian national team’s all-time leading scorer[33]
- FIBA World Cup’s all-time leader in points scored:
- 906 career points scored in 34 games played (26.7 points per game)
- 1978 FIBA World Championship: All-Tournament Team
- 1986 FIBA World Championship: All-Tournament Team
- 1990 FIBA World Championship: All-Tournament Team
- 1990 FIBA World Championship’s Top Scorer (34.6 points per game)
- Summer Olympics’s all-time leader in points scored:[34]
- 1,093 career points scored – 28.8 points per game
- 3× Summer Olympics Top Scorer:[34]
- Seoul 1988 – 42.3 points per game (the record in any edition)
- Barcelona 1992 – 24.8 points per game
- Atlanta 1996 – 27.4 points per game
- Most points scored in a game at the Summer Olympics – 55 against Spain, 24 September 1988 (lost 118–110)[34]
- FIBA Intercontinental Cup Finals Top Scorer (1979)
- 9× Italian League All-Star (1983–1991)
- Italian League All-Star Game MVP (1987)
- 3× Italian League All-Star Game 3-Point Contest Champion (1987–1989)
- 7× Italian League Top Scorer: (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992)
- 2× Italian 2nd Division Top Scorer (1991, 1993)
- 3× ULEB All-Star (1992, 1993, 1994)
- ULEB All-Star Game 3-Point Shootout Champion (1993)
- Spanish League Top Scorer: (1994)
- 10× Brazilian Championship Top Scorer: (1979, 1980, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003)
- São Paulo State Championship Top Scorer: 1979, 1995, 1997, 1998
- 4x RJ State Championship Top Scorer: 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
- 3x São Paulo State Championship Player of the Year: (1979, 1995, 1996)
- He scored 66 points in an Italian League game on 30 November 1991[9][10]
- He scored 57 points in a São Paulo State Championship game on 28 October 1997[35]
- He scored 59 points in a São Paulo State Championship game on 17 November 1997[36]
- He scored 74 points in a São Paulo State Championship game on 28 November 1997[18][19][20]
- His best scoring record in the Spanish League was 47 points in the Unicaja Malaga – Forum Valladolid (99-101) on 27 November 1994, while on 19 March 1994 he had scored 11 three-pointers (Murcia – Forum Valladolid 96-87)[37]
- With his 13,957 points in the Italian League remains the foreign player who scored the most, with an overall average of 34.6 points per game and game peaks of over 60 points, the first of which was recorded in 1984. He is the player who surpassed the 50 point mark the most times in the history of Italian basketball: he scored more than 50 pts in a single match 28 times out of 403 matches played (about 7%), ahead of Dražen Dalipagić (15/241 equal to 6.2%) and Joe Bryant (14/247, about 5.7%).[38]
- He scored his Italian career high, with 66 points for Pavia (13/21 two-pointers, 11/26 three-pointers and 7/9 free throws) on November 30, 1991 during the home defeat against Torino (109-110).[39]
- Retired club jerseys: #18 JuveCaserta (1990), #11 Pavia (1993), #14 C.R. Flamengo (2003)
- FIBA European Selection: (1991)
- FIBA’s 50 Greatest Players: (1991)
- Olympic Order: (1997)
- FIBA Hall of Fame inductee: (2010)
- Basketball Hall of Fame: (2013)
- Italian Basketball Hall of Fame: (2017)
Various records
- He played 271 consecutive games for Caserta for 7 years in the Italian Serie A.
- Most points in a single game in the Brazilian National Club Championship (57), playing for Flamengo.
- Most points in a single game in the Liga Sudamericana de Baloncesto (46), playing for Flamengo against Ambassadors.
- Most points in a single game in the Pan-American Games (53), against Mexico, in 1987.
- Most points in a single game in the World Cup (52), against Australia, in 1990.
- Most consecutive games in the RJ State League (90), with Flamengo
As a member of pro club teams
- 4× São Paulo State Championship champion: 1974, Sírio 1978, 1979, 1998
- 3× Brazilian Championship champion: 1977, 1979, 1996
- South American Club Championship champion: 1979
- FIBA Intercontinental Cup champion: 1979
- Italian Cup winner: 1988
- 2× Rio de Janeiro State Championship champion: 1999, 2002
Brazil national team
- 3× FIBA South American Championship:
Gold (1977, 1983, 1985) - FIBA World Cup:
Bronze (1978) - 2× FIBA South American Championship:
Silver: (1979, 1981) - Pan American Games: Bronze (1979)
- Pan American Games: Gold (1987)
- FIBA AmeriCup: Bronze (1989)
