Oscar the G.O.A.T
EPISODE 76: The man who changed the NBA.
Not gonna mince words here: this is one of my favorite interviews I’ve ever done.
Which is strange, because if you told me last year that we’d commit the time and resources to fly down to Orlando to spend the day with Oscar Schmidt, I would’ve had many questions. Questions such as: Why?
Until very recently, in fact, when I started reporting his story, I knew almost nothing about Oscar. I was only vaguely aware that he was a Hall of Famer who never played in the NBA.
I had no idea LeBron James was on the verge of breaking one of Oscar’s world records, literally any day now, for the most points scored in the history of basketball (49,737).
But Oscar Schmidt’s real story, it turns out — to say nothing of his personality — is so much bigger than just that.
DKN/YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERT:
Fuck you,
Pablo
OMFG, Pablo. This just dropped into my podcast feed. I can't wait to hear it. Here's my Oscar Schmidt story. The Dream Team came to Portland in 1992 for the Tournament of the Americas. It looks like you've got that story covered, so I won't bore you with what it was. I, a broke college kid with a credit card he should have NEVER had, managed to secure tickets to every game Team USA played in. All Team USA games were followed by another game featuring two other countries.
Guatemala and Costa Rica! Come on down!
Anyway, one of the sessions featured Mexico and Brazil with referee Dick Bavetta! Ok, the Bavetta part might not be true...I remember having a running conversation with him at one game, it may not have been THAT game. It's been thirty years. Christ.
ANYWAY, my friends and I had been reading about Schmidt in the lead-up to the tournament and wanted to see if the hype was true. So we moved down to the baseline to watch. And we made sure Oscar knew we were there for him. Oscar put on a show. Effortless threes. Crisp movement away from the ball. Setting up teammates. The guy had it ALL. And every time down the floor, we'd yell "oh-SCAR!". He'd pump his fist back at us. So cool. So so cool.
They ended up winning. It was the game that sent them on to Barcelona. My goodness that was fun. My buddy wandered over to their post-game celebration and let out a giant "oh-SCAR!" and like that, he was swept into the celebration and up the tunnel. The story of the celebration, as I recall it all these years later, was anti-climactic. We got a photo with him afterward. I'm sure it's around somewhere.
Anyway, what a guy. OSCAR!!! I can't wait to check this out later today. Thanks for this gift.
I enjoyed listening to this so much! Found myself cracking up the entire time.