Basketball icon Oscar Schmidt, who started at Palmeiras, dies at 68 | OneFootball

Former player Oscar Schmidt, who began his professional basketball journey at Palmeiras, died at the age of 68, leaving the national sports scene in mourning. Considered one of the greatest athletes of all time, the eternal “Holy Hand” built a career marked by talent, personality, and numbers that span generations.

Beginning at Palmeiras

With deep sadness, Palmeiras mourned the death of one of its first great names in basketball. It was wearing the club’s green-and-white jersey that Oscar took the first steps of a legendary journey, one that would lead him to worldwide recognition.

At 17 years old, on August 30, 1975, at the Sírio gymnasium, he made his debut for Palmeiras’ senior team. That night, he scored the first points of a tally that would reach an astonishing total of 49,973 over the course of his career — a historic record in world basketball.

His time at Palmeiras came to an end in 1978, but it was only the beginning of a brilliant journey. Oscar built a distinguished international career, with important spells in Italy and Spain, while also becoming a symbol of the Brazilian national team in five editions of the Olympic Games.

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