Brazil basketball legend Oscar Schmidt passes away at 68

Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt, one of the most prolific scorers in basketball history, has passed away. He was 68. Schmidt, who had been hospitalized in the São Paulo metropolitan area after feeling ill, breathed his last yesterday after a long battle with a brain tumor. Schmidt, a Hall of Fame inductee in 2013, had played a 30-year professional career in Brazil and Europe and retired in 2003. He represented Brazil in five Olympic Games and four World Cups, holding all-time scoring records in both competitions. He retired at the age of 45 in 2003 after a professional career spanning three decades. His unofficial world record of 49,737 points for club and country was surpassed by LeBron James in 2024.