Oscar Schmidt, Brazilian basketball Hall of Famer, dies at 68
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SAO PAULO — Oscar Schmidt, the Brazilian scoring legend known at home as the “Holy Hand,” died Friday at Hospital e Maternidade Municipal Santa Ana in Santana de Parnaíba, outside São Paulo. He was 68.
In a family statement, relatives said Schmidt had battled a brain tumor for 15 years “with courage, dignity and resilience,” adding that he “leaves a legacy that transcends sport and inspires generations of athletes and admirers in Brazil and worldwide.” The hospital said the family requested privacy.
Schmidt spent 19 years with Brazil’s national team and is regarded as one of basketball’s most prolific scorers. He appeared in five Olympic Games and four FIBA World Cups, finishing as the all-time leading scorer in both tournaments. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics he set the single-game record with 55 points against Spain; two years later he scored 52 against Australia at the World Cup, another record that still stands.
His signature performance came at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, where he poured in 46 points in a 120-115 upset of the United States—the first time an American team lost a major international event on home soil.
Drafted by the New Jersey Nets in the sixth round in 1984, Schmidt declined an NBA contract to remain eligible for Brazil’s national team, as league players were then barred from international play. He built most of his professional career in Brazil and Italy, where a young Kobe Bryant counted him as an idol. Standing 6-foot-8 (2.03 m), Schmidt embraced the three-point shot in the 1980s, earning the nickname “Mão Santa.”
When he retired in 2003 at age 45, his combined club and national-team total of 49,737 points unofficially eclipsed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s mark and held until LeBron James surpassed it in 2024.
Schmidt entered the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, and the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017. After retiring, he became a popular motivational speaker, frequently discussing his cancer fight, his love for basketball, and his devotion to Brazil.
He is survived by his wife, Maria Cristina Victorino, whom he married in 1981, and their two children.
Source: ESPN
