• Home
  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More
  • Contact

Grimag

  • FIBA
  • EuroLeague
  • NBA/NCAA
  • National Leagues
  • Podcast
  • Features
  • More

Happy birthday, Team USA killer Oscar Schmidt!

February 16, 2012

BallinEurope wishes a happy birthday to longtime Team Brazil, Spanish League and Italian Serie A legend Oscar Schmidt, who today is 54 years old.

Over a career spanning three decades and five Olympic Games, Schmidt scored a total of 49,703 career points, recognized by FIBA as the most-ever in a career.

(The identity of the second-highest point scorer remains a bit elusive for BiE, but for comparison’s sake, all-time NBA scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was good for 38,387 in his playing days; Nikos Gallis totaled 24,759 in all competitions.)

Outside of Europe – where Oscar had turns with Fórum Valladolid, Juve Caserta, and the now-defunct Pallacanestro Pavia – Schmidt is mostly known for 46 specific points of his nearly 50,000: Namely, his nearly one-man torching of Team USA (Marcel Souza contributed 31) in the gold-medal game of the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis. Not only did this victory end the US’ 34-game Pan Am winning streak, gold for Brazil also meant the end of the accepted dominance of Team USA in international hoops competitions – at least under the format then.

Indeed, the Los Angeles Times noted back in ’87 after the gold-medal game that “The din of the raucous celebration by the Brazilian basketball team and its fiery little band of flag-waving supporters had not fully subsided before Americans were wondering if maybe the United States should use Magic Johnson and Larry Bird the next time out.”

The rest, as they say, has been history. Many happy returns, Oscar!

Feb 16, 2012ballineurope
Powered by Sidelines
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
This post was published on February 16, 2012
Roll ‘em! Charlotte Bobcats visit Minnesota, Rubio-to-Johnson connection gets ‘TubedRumor: Timberwolves pursue Team Spain connection with Derrick Williams for Pau proposal
Comments: 1
  1. Colm Heaney
    13 years ago

    Let’s not forget he’s also responsible for one of the greatest quotes in basketball history: “Some people, they play the piano. And some people, they move the piano.”

    ReplyCancel

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

ballineurope
13 years ago 1 Comment FIBA, More1987 Pan American Games, basketball highlights, Caserta, FIBA, Forum Valladolid, Italy, Juve Caserta, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Liga Endesa, Magic Johnson, Marcel Souza, Nikos Gallis, Oscar Schmidt, Pallacanestro Pavia, Serie A, Spain, Team Brazil, Team USA, Valladolid
Recent Posts
Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a Lock for Finals MVP?
13 days ago
After Euroleague failure, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos meet in a Greek Finals full of pressure, pride, and questions for Ataman and Bartzokas
Panathinaikos and Olympiacos Face a New Reality
28 days ago
Fenerbahce beat AS Monaco to win the Euroleague title, as Sarunas Jasikevicius claimed his first crown after years of close calls.
Fenerbahce Finish the Job as Jasikevicius Strikes Gold
29 days ago
Categories
Recent Posts
Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a Lock for Finals MVP?
Panathinaikos and Olympiacos Face a New Reality
Fenerbahce Finish the Job as Jasikevicius Strikes Gold
Tags
EuroLeagueNBAYouTubeReal MadridCSKA MoscowFC BarcelonaFIBAOlympiacosPanathinaikosZalgiris KaunasACBSpainMaccabi Tel AvivRicky RubioTeam SpainLos Angeles LakersMontepaschi SienaPartizan BelgradeLithuaniaIrelandGermanyPau GasolItalyTeam LithuaniaTurkeyTeam FranceCaja Laboral BaskoniaLietuvos RytasFenerbahce ÜlkerGreeceJuan Carlos NavarroSerbiaSan Antonio SpursTony ParkerMinnesota TimberwolvesFranceEuroleagueDirk Nowitzkibasketball highlightsTeam RussiaALBA BerlinEuroCupDallas MavericksTeam USAEuroBasket 2011
Share
0
Facebook
ABOUT
BallinEurope.com was founded in September 2007 by Christophe Ney (who now runs the excellent scouting-themed website European Prospects) and Tobias Seitz, both then bloggers for FIBA.com with over 10 years’ worth of experience in the professional basketball world each. The mission then was to “provide a very unique perspective of Basketball in and about Europe.”
Most Commented
Why Andrei Kirilenko and CSKA Moscow must win the Euroleague
13 years ago
180 Comments
Euroleague Transfers Table 2008/2009
17 years ago
168 Comments
A week in highlights: Spanish block party, mighty Milos, Utah rap and some dude dunking in L.A.
14 years ago
139 Comments
Archives
Get In Touch

Email: emmetryan@gmail.com

Name: Emmet Ryan

2014 © BallinEurope. Join JCI Dublin