Basketball Legend Oscar Schimdt dies at 68.
Basketball Legend Oscar Schmidt dies at 68.
Here the source in Portuguese
https://www.lance.com.br/nbb/lenda-do-basquete-mundial-oscar-schmidt-morre-aos-68-anos.html
RIP
42.3 PPG on 73.3 TS% at the 1988 Olympics.
RIP to a legend.
Excuse me, WHAT? I should’ve been respecting this guy a while ago.
The US was the only team to hold him under 35 – he still put up 31.
He also beat the U.S. at the Pan American games to win gold, which was a big deal at the time and one of the things that led to the formation of the Dream Team in 92
He lowkey caused the globalization of the game.
I don’t mean to undermine the loss of this legend. With all due respect, I think he caused a whole new generation of basketball lovers in Brazil, where most people are basically born with football[soccer…] balls in their hands. Long shot about globalization though, in my opinion. After all, does it matter. May Oscar rest in peace.
it’s not just in brazil, he was huge in europe when he played in italy. kukoč, dražen, galis, schmidt, sabonis, rađa, meneghin, they were royalty in europe in those days.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-24-sp-1990-story.html
Schmidt and his Brazilian national team had enough trouble beating David Robinson of Navy and Danny Manning of Kansas and Pooh Richardson of UCLA.
INDIANAPOLIS — 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.
Probably the best basketball player who never played in the league
Could’ve been an all-time NBAer
Honestly, other two I’d imagine would be Nikos Galis and Bodiroga, but I’d still put Oscar Schmidt ahead of both
Also this guy
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/brownro01.html
Lost six years of his career to a point-shaving scandal despite no personal wrongdoing
What about Llull? Is he in the conversation?
Not really. He was the best player outside the NBA for some time, but that was at the time when all the best European players were already in the league. Galis and Bodiroga were a lot better. He is in a tier with Spanoulis and Diamantidis.
No offense to Llull, but nowhere near the level of Schmidt. Only reason Oscar never played in the NBA was because he wouldn’t had been able to play for Brazil.
Nah absolutely not. I’m Brazilian, well versed on how great Oscar was, he is number 1. Didn’t watch much Llull and just know how accomplished he is so was curious if a case could be made to have him in the group
Dalipagic should be in the conversation. Oscar was better, but the matches beetwen the two were something different
He has the potential to be in top 10 ever player
When he was drafted in the NBA, there was a clause at time that players could not play in the national team at the same time as they play in the NBA. So, he chose to continue playing for the brazilian national team. A true legend and patriot!
He also made more money not playing for the NBA so it’s not all altruism
He was part of the legendary Jordan draft
LeBron only recently broke Oscar’s all time career points record (NBA or otherwise), I was kinda hoping they’d do a celebration like when he broke Kareem’s for the NBA
That’s honestly one of the most insane achievements Lebron has done. Crazy that they didn’t even acknowledge it. I had no idea.
I was trying to update the Wikipedia page for that a while back.
The problem is that there’s no consensus on which games count towards professional scoring.
I kept checking that wiki page when LeBron was getting close 2 seasons ago. Like you said, it was hard to follow. Schmidt’s numbers kept changing. I think someone added Lebron’s all star, preseason, and high school points after someone added Schmidt’s amateur-level points. I’m glad that lebron has scored so many points since then that he would be on top regardless.
Probably the best non-american scorer and best non-american player of all time… Yeah, you should respect it.
best non-american player of all time…
LMAO, there’s no argument that he’s better than Olajuwon, Jokic, Nash, SGA, Dirk, and company.
And I said that as someone who likes Oscar more than 99% of basketball fans.
I think he meant like best player not to play in the NBA
If he meant that then i agree. It’s between him and Galis. But not better than international players who played in the nba.
reading his other comments here…i doubt it
Sorry but best non american defintiely not.
As a brazilian RIP to our GOAT. Shame he didnt play in the nba. He had everything, BBIQ, great shooter, good defender.. would be an HOF for sure
He is in the Hall of Fame
Ik but its shame because he got in without playing in the nba so a lot people (even in this sub) dont know him and how great he was
He was not better than joking or others.
Arvydas Sabonis is the best non-American but I feel you
Umm no
Lmao, no. The best non American scorers have NBA accolades, or still play for the NBA. He could ball, but he isn’t even the same conversation as Jokic, Luka, dirk or Shai in terms of skill or ability to score at the highest level. I’m not even sure he could have had that level of production as the number one option of a nba team during his time. He played against poorer comp, could he the scottie to some teams MJ? Yea I’d see that but he would never be in any all time talks if he had to hoop against the best of the best for the entirety of his career. He’d be a high level player, forgotten in the era of other great hoopers whose impact was overshadowed by the dominance of all time greats.
With all due respect, stop saying shit. If you don’t know the man, at least respect his history. He was a dominant force in Europe, influenced even Kobe by the way he played. Kobe himself talked how he would see Oscar play and destroy his father in the game and talking about being like him.
Putting Shai and Luka as the same level as him, with him being the All-Time Leading Scorer of the Olympics, and second All-Time IN ALL OF BASKETBALL, it’s insane.
But what could I expected from people from the United States? This, I guess.
Yap yap yap, he beat some college kids in the Olympics the gets shut out the instant NBA players come to show the world how dominate the US is at its own sports. You use the words of Mr Colorado to defend your nation’s goat lol as if beating his very very very mid level pro hooper (in terms of all time, nba level comp) of a father and kid Kobe looking up to that is some measurement of greatness is fr funny. Acting like his skill is comparable to current NBA Mvp front runners and season scoring title winners is also hilarious, because how can they be when the competition isn’t even comparable. Luka, Shai, (I forgot Giannis AND WEMBY GOD) jokic average 70ppg and hang up a couple 100 point games a year effortlessly against the same fiba, or the college boy teams your goat oscar played against. Any of the modern euro/single canook would absolutely thrive, outpace, and dominate if you gave them the easier competition Oscar put up most of his points up against lol. Like cmon, you don’t watch sports if you can’t believe in evolution in skill when it comes to future generations. These new dudes that your kids will be calling Goats in 20 years, drop 50k points in Oscar’s shoes. Don’t get too upset about it. Like, jokic drops 40 trip dub on wemby, regularly now lmao. He’s (or any of his contemporaries) giving those old ass fiba teams or college made Olympic squads STRAIGHT BELT.
gets shut out the instant NBA players come to show the world how dominate the US is at its own sports.
He was the leading scorer in the same Olympics he played against the Dream Team. Because he got “shut down” (24/2/2 + 2 steals), in one game, he’s an average player? 24 points against arguably the greatest team of all time is not a bad game to have. He also led the tournament in scoring with 24.7 PPG.
But yeah dude, all I’m doing is yapping.
Greatest team of all time? It’s pretty great but I don’t see that as the greatest team ever assembled, and he got his average smashed. Going from 40ish ppg to getting 24 is effectively drowning the man and playing a good NBA rosters defense with their best defender on you wouldn’t have him averaging any better in the NBA, he wouldn’t be on the top ten or even 20 all time scorers if he had been in the league lmao. All while playing against a team that has far far far far far less cohesion and team chemistry than modern American Olympic rosters. It had star power, and the skill gap to just smash every team and your boys average Ppg. Again, you think what I’m saying is bad because you refuse to accept Oscar wouldn’t average more than fucking MJ or Bird or anyone of the legit killers against the beat the fuck out of you defensive era he would of got legit mauled in lmao, and by the time hes in the 90s with a better Whistle, what he’s still going to pull 40k points out of his ass after averaging low 20s for a good part of a decade. He’d be a small market star that wouldn’t win shit, or at best the number 2 to a real number one option to play and win at the highest level. He would have absolutely no hope of scoring 30k let alone 40k if he played in the NBA. Accept it.
Going from 40ish ppg to getting 24 is effectively drowning the man
His 40ish PPG Olympics was in Seoul, what are you talking about? But sure dude, you do you.
Pablo Torre has an interview with him on his podcast, it’s called something along the lines of “The GOAT you’ve never heard of.” Really fun episode!
There’s an episode of Pablo Torre with him, if you want to know a little bit more.
Best player to never play in the nba they say
Absolute legend! RIP
RIP, arguably the greatest player to never play in the NBA
I don’t know who else would be considered. He had the skills and the demand, but he wasn’t going to give up representing his country to play in the NBA.
Dejan Bodiroga maybe but even then Schmidt is such a legend. One of the best scorers to ever play
Nikos Galis has a shout also but still, Oscar all the way
For players who had a pro basketball career I see nobody close to him.. For players who never play pro basketball maybe Len Bias.
Galis or Oscar. 3rd Bodiroga.
I’m almost positive he would of had a far, far, far poorer career playing against NBA comp for a majority of it, compared to fiba. He production would not be the same considering the world’s best basketball defenders are primarily in the NBA. He wouldn’t even be top ten all time scoring tbh, those fiba teams defense were a step above d1 college level, at best. Take most contending rosters from that time to the Olympics and they steam roll the mostly fiba sourced rosters any nation could possibly cook up lol.
It’s a mistake when people look at his stats as “the guy” on his teams and extrapolate to claim he’d be Bird/Magic/MJ level if he was in the NBA. Nobody in their right mind thinks he’s a top 10 player of all time. But like, if Schmidt had played a dozen years in the NBA putting up 22-28 ppg, he’d have been remembered differently and might even be some team’s franchise GOAT.
That’s my view mostly, he would of been a solid small market teams goat, or the second option to a contending team. I just don’t see actual Goat level of production at this level of comp. He isn’t sniffing the top ten scoring all time list against NBA comp, mainly due to the diversity and evolution of rooks coming into the NBA at the time. He would not find himself the opportunity to play at a high level, for as many minutes, as the primary/secondary scorer, unless he just went down a sad line of non contending teams to keep the ball in his hands and minutes up and be the best player to score through, maybe could crack top 20 doing that. Essentially just see whatever franchise he’s on start looking towards a future prospect as he would start to decline.
What you’re describing is pretty much exactly a George Gervin type player and Gervin was 9th all-time when he retired. I could easily see Oscar having a similar result. Of course, Gervin has dropped down to 21 all-time in the years since he’s retired, so I guess it really comes down to whether you’re talking about sniffing the top 10 today or back when he played.
Oh no ofc I should of specified that, Im talking now, and yea falling out the too 20 around now or a bit before is reasonable. He would of again, been a good scottie/2, or like you said gervin which funnily enough I kinda thought of when it comes to what I was trying to convey. Would of had a solid 20-25k points imo. He would of been hot in a small market.
Imagine if he came over when the Nets drafted him in 84. He’d easily have more career points than their top 2 combined.
Unfortunately, if Oscar played in the NBA he would’ve been used as a 6th man. His defense was not good even by FIBA standards of the time. Opposing teams would’ve targeted him on D.
Most likely.
He started playing in an era where taking the jump to the NBA meant not being able to represent his country in the Olympics and other FIBA competitions and that mattered in his decision. When that restriction dissappeared in 1992 he was slightly beyond his prime in his mid 30s and a name already established in FIBA ball so it was not the same.
Also by that time the salary difference between NBA role players and FIBA established stars in some leagues was not what is today where the gap sadly tempts some guys to abandon important roles in low/mid tier teams all across the globe in different pro leagues to possibly only warm NBA benches 1 or 2 years for higher salaries. That wasn´t the case back then for some international players.
I got to see him play when he was around his 40s and he was still an effective scorer by then.
Huh, I was wondering why he never played in the NBA.
And what a stupid restriction.
When would you say the salary difference really became notable?
For me the biggest jump was the 2016-2017 season where the salary cap skyrocketed (that was when the Warriors managed to get KD as a free agent and a lot of not-so-awesome guys got massive contracts).
Euroleague and other markets NEVER recovered from that. Hence that the NBA has never had more than 100 players born outside the US playing in a single season prior to that season and after that we are on the 5th or 6th consecutive year where that mark has been broken. That pay boost attracted a lot of young talented players outside the US to direct their efforts to end up playing in the NBA and made sure that no more Sergio Lluls and Dejan Bodirogas were really possible.
Wow, I looked it up. \(63M to over \)84M. New television deal?
New television deal?
I recall it had to do with that, specifically including the TV rights for China in the mix but I am not fully sure if that was the only factor or there were other things as well that made the cap rise that much.
Sorry it’s in Portuguese, but just to inform that the Brazilian GOAT have died
RIP Mão Santa !
Not only Brazilian but overall one of the basketball GOATs.
I think it’s a good time, with the dominance of international players right now, to remember, and wonder, if it was another time, how incredible those guys like Oscar Schmidt would do. And he would have done serious damage in the NBA.
Yeah, seeing some documentaries and articles from that era (and even today) many americans underrated and disrespected him, saying he wasn’t a good defender, that he would be just a roleplayer, etc…
Bullshit on that. Nash, Dirk and many others won MVP and rings without being good defenders. Oscar wouldve been an all-nba and mvp contender for many years during his peak, if he was in the NBA.
In the same respect, I think Nikos Galis would have absolutely destroyed the league one way or another. And it sucks for me that he was drafted by the Celtics but never got a chance due to injury, because my god how I believe this guy would have done exactly that.
Legend
His speech in the Hall of Fame is one of the most beautiful things you will ever see
Really likeable guy. RIP
At least I don’t feel bad about crying like a baby because even the great Bill Walton was tearing up after that one.
Incredible story teller, and extremely likeable
that shot at the wizards lol
That was incredibly touching and funny.
that nickname goes hard and debuting at 16 is incredible. 74 to 03 is like the length of 2 careers and still being effective even in their 40s wow.
He played 29 years??
LeBron just cancelled his farewell tour
Yes. Played 29 years, scored 42044 points, more than 7000 for the Brazilian NT
His last years were some fun shit , he just picked 4 buddies, a friendly coach and just chucked that shit for 40 minutes, results were secondary lmao
The Holy Hand 🙌
He provided one of my favorite basketball quotes ever, when asked why he shot the ball so much:
“In life some people play the piano. And others move the piano.”
R.I.P. was he that guy who used to have the most points of all time in basketball history in his league?
He scored the most points of every professional basketball player ever by quite a margin, yes edit: lebron eclipsed him some time ago
Didn’t LeBron break that record?
Yeah LeBron has scored almost 4k more points than him now across all competitions. 53.3k vs 49.7k
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_basketball_players_with_most_career_points
Sorry, yes he only holds the olympic record now
He is still, I believe, the player with the most points in an Olympics career (and possibly in a single Olympics), by a large margin. People celebrated KD because Durant became the #1 scorer for the US, which was major Oscar erasure.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/leaders/mens-olympics/pts_career.html
https://www.basketball-reference.com/international/leaders/mens-olympics/pts_season.html
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fgtzjictk9cdd1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1080%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D207b32052690d5c0c9e03c6a20ba382cff7bed2f
R.I.P. to the Brazilian legend. Best player on the planet to not play in the association. Descanse em paz
By far.
Such a pity. Oscar would make Klay look like a willing passer.
When you are a scoring SG, the best and most talented on court every game, why would you pass much? It was a different time, teams weren’t blitzing and doubling him every time, so he would just pull up and score, or they would make a set for him to score, simple.
Kobe also wasn’t much of a passer. In the context of Oscar career (playing mostly in Italy and with the national team), he was the Kobe.
My comment wasn’t criticism.
It’s ok, i’m not criticizing you too, i’m just explaining.
Specially because there are other people reading these comments, and some might believe it blindly.
I thought you wrote “willy pisser” for a second
Maior da história do basquete brasileiro
Respect
Muito triste de ver essa notícia no busão. Ainda lembro de quando ele jogou no All-Star Game
RIP, respect to a true legend
I Know we are the Country of soccer, but Oscar was definitely my favorite athlete growing up. He will always be my GOAT.
I still remember as a kid watching the Madrid-Caserta final and the best duel in the history of basketball (Dražen vs. Oscar)
The greatest Brazilian to ever play the sport and the reason the Dream Team existed in 92.
His HoF speech is great, specially the Larry Bird part.
If you haven’t, Pablo Torre has an episode of his podcast all about Oscar. Great listen to lean more about him
Our best player ever, RIP
Yeah, Holy Hand (how fucking nice is this nickname in english) was the best to never play on the NBA, by far. Sad that such bullshit rule prevented us Brazilians of having a Hof playing on the greatest league…
Mão Santa!
68 is too too young.
He was dealing with a brain cancer for 12 years
Dude refused to go to the NBA because he wanted to keep defending Brazilian NT. The biggest legend of basketball from our country and a reference in effort and will. Kobe looked up to him during his career because of how intense he trained, and Oscar looked up to Larry Bird as his favorite player, which was the one that presented him into the HOF when he was inducted.
Biggest scorer of all time until LeBron overtook him, and the most insane scoring average of all time in the Olympics.
He, Senna, Cielo, Rebeca Andrade and a few Volleyball players (like Giba and Serginho) are our references outside of the sport, of people that made Brazil cheer about athletes that aren’t football players. RIP
He attempted 13.4 3PA in the 1994 Olympics in Atlanta. NBA teams only averaged 9.9 3PA during this time.
Just one season after Atlanta (1994⁄1995) the 3PA in the NBA jumped by nearly 50% (from 9.9 to 15.3). He probably revolutionised the game as much as Steph 20 years later.
RIP legend!
I watched him play live multiple times. A phenomenal player and great person! May he rest in peace
A great Hall of Fame speech from the man. The last part is now even more emotional telling his wife he’d want to be with her till the day he dies 😢 RIP to a true legend.
https://youtu.be/8HMco6nizJk?si=PXZ57tg2rBaiqr90
Legend of basketball
Fun fact: Schmidt was Kobe’s original idol while in italy
Fun Fact: They reconnected in 2009 and Kobe was fanboying all over him LMAO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiTu2e0IjR0
seems odd to misspell his name in such a post
To be fair to OP, who’s probably Brazilian, Schmidt is not a very common name in Brazil
As a brazilian, Schmidt and Schimdt sound exactly the same. I’m guilty of making that mistake a few times.
[deleted]
When I said “Schmidt isn’t common in Brazil,” I was thinking in a national, top-surnames sense—names like Silva, Santos, Oliveira, Souza, etc., which are widespread across all regions and social groups.
What you’re describing is also true, though: in parts of southern Brazil, surnames like Schmidt, Müller, Schneider, etc., are very normal and relatively frequent because of German immigration.
Descanse em paz mão santa!!
Rest In Peace, from Paviæ
Descansa em paz 🐐
My father always told me that Oscar is the reason why the US Dream Team existed: the fact that he led Brazil to beat the US on the 1987 Pan-American Games at their home showed that the US needed to up their game if they wanted to stay at the top.
It might not be the only reason (1988), but it’s not a lie.
Thank you, Oscar.
Rip
The brazilian too good for the NBA
RIP to the legend
He was a pure scorer, a machine in the Italian Serie A1 when this league was the strongest in Europe.
RIP to a basketball legend. Arguably the best player to never play in the NBA.
Greatest basketball player to have never played in the NBA. RIP.
In case you didn’t know, his nickname in Brazil is ‘Holy Hand.’
When asked about it, he gave one of the best responses: ‘The more I practice, the holier my hand gets.
Fck I hate when people die too young. He will always be a legend. QEPD
I watched him play when i was a kid, here in Italy. The most insane scorer i ever see.
RIP Mão Santa
Scored many more points than LeBron has I believe
You had two chances to spell it right man :(
Rip the legend, that man was great.
Rest in peace you record breaking man, I hope you got to tell your family how much you loved them not too long before you left.
A legend. One of the best players who never played in the NBA. Schmidt and Galis are top two in that ranking.
oh man that sucks! RIP legend. Love watching his highlights on YT from time to time. Real fucking badass. rest well
68 is so young. RIP.
May him rest in Heaven,the blessed Hans,the Pelé of Basketball
His hall of fame speech and the section about his wife brought me to tears. Rest in Peace.
He’s got a great documentary. I don’t remember what it’s on but if you like hoops, it’s for you.
Legends never die. He’ll never be forgotten.
That’s too soon… RIP legend
Feels like there aren’t that many NBA/Basketball legends who have actually died, so when it happens, it hits way harder. RIP to Oscar.
May he rest in peace
A player that was legit ahead of his time. RIP!
Brazilian Arvydas Sabonis
Damn
Now everybody gets to know how good he was and forget it in 48 hours during another GOAT discussion
Best player to never play in the nba for sure. RIP.
Tadeu vai apresentar o BBB hoje?
Provavelmente não. Ele não deve mais apresentar esse ano o BBB 26.
… What, mate?