Oscar Schmidt, 1958–2026

In 1987, in a gymnasium in Indianapolis, something happened that was not supposed to happen. Brazil was down 20 points at halftime to a United States squad loaded with future NBA players. Then Oscar Schmidt took over. He scored 35 points in the second half alone, finishing with 46 for the game. When the final buzzer sounded, Brazil had won, 120–115. It was the first time in history that a U.S. basketball team had lost a major international tournament on home soil. The American players were stunned. The Brazilian players were weeping. And Oscar Schmidt — the 6-foot-9 force of nature from Natal whom his countrymen called Mao Santa (“the Holy Hand”) simply smiled, the way a man smiles when something he always believed finally comes true.

Oscar Daniel Bezerra Schmidt, who died last week at the age of 68, was born on Feb. 16, 1958, in Natal, in the northeastern