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ago 21 2026Oscar Schmidt will continue to be present on Brazil's jersey. The Brazilian national team announced it will play its upcoming World Cup 2027 qualifying window matches with a special patch in memory of its greatest legend, who passed away on April 17 at age 68 after a 15-year battle with a brain tumor.
The first stage of the tribute will arrive during the late August window, and will have a Spanish connection as a bonus: Brazil faces the Dominican Republic on the 28th, led by Ángel Delgado, who recently signed with UNICS Kazan.
The man who was the national team
Few tributes could have been more justified. Schmidt is the all-time leading scorer in basketball history, with more than 49,000 official points in a career spanning nearly three decades, and built his legend precisely wearing the jersey that now honors him: five Olympic Games, the Olympic scoring record with 1,093 points, and the foundational moment of Brazilian basketball, the comeback against the United States in the 1987 Pan American Games final in Indianapolis.
His commitment to that jersey went so far as to cost him the NBA: he rejected the New Jersey Nets, who had selected him in the 1984 draft, to avoid losing eligibility with Brazil at a time when NBA professionals were not allowed to compete in FIBA tournaments.
Spanish fans need no reminder: he left two unforgettable seasons at Fórum Valladolid between 1993 and 1995, averaging 33.2 points in his first season and winning the league's leading scorer award at age 36.
