Legendary Oscar Schmidt Scores Big At Hall Of Fame Induction

 

I know I'm dating myself here (now THAT's true self love!), but I have been a fan of the "Brazilian Bird" Oscar Schmidt since he burst upon the international basketball scene back in the late 1970's and through the 80's. He beat the U.S. entry almost singlehandedly in the 1987 Pan Am Games, scoring a whopping 46 points; he averaged 42.3 in the 1988 Summer Olympics; and he became known well enough around the world to only need one name -- "Oscar." Nuff said!

 

You can check out his Hall of Fame Induction speech here, and I strongly encourage you to do so. In my humble opinion, his was the most entertaining and heartfelt presentation of the day. Oh, and also...Oscar's sponsor into the Hall was a certain well-known green-teamer who was so aptly described by the honoree thusly: "He doesn't run...he doesn't jump, but he plays the best of everyone here." 

But, if you're asking why Oscar's induction is relevant to Greenheadz everywhere, it's not just because his presenter was one Larry Joe Bird (who happened to be one of the three other Celtics hitting the stage in some fashion this year. Bob Cousy, John Havlicek and Bill Walton were the others. Rick Pitino doesn't count cuz he wasn't a "true" Celtic! But, I digress). 

Oscar's induction should be relevant to all because he was one of the best, if not the best, shooters the international game has ever seen...reminiscent of our own "greatest shooter ever," #33, and Celtics fans tend to appreciate great basketball players wherever they might come from and whomever they may have played for.

So, check Oscar out and watch as the Basketball Hall of Fame pays tribute to one of the true greats to have ever played the game.

Okay, fine...if you really want to, you can check out Coach Pitino here, but, if you do that, then you should also watch the rest of the festivities here with Gary Payton, Dawn Staley,  Bernard King, Richie Guerin and the rest.