Oscar Schmidt (1954- ) was a legendary Brazilian basketball player who came to international attention as the star of the Brazilian National Basketball Team in the 1980s and 1990s, including star turns in the 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympic Games. Standing in at 6 feet, 9 inches, Schmidt played the small forward position. Nicknamed Mão Santa, the "Holy Hand," Schmidt was one of the greatest pure shooters of all time, and is widely regarded as the greatest player never to play in the NBA. In fact, Schmidt was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in the 1984 NBA Draft and thereafter was repeatedly offered chances to play in the NBA, but he turned them all down because he wanted to maintain his amateur status in order to continue to play for his beloved Brazilian National Team (NBA players were not allowed to play in the Olympics until 1992).
Instead, Schmidt played quasi-professionally for a series of club teams in Brazil, Italy, and Spain. Schmidt is unofficially considered to be the all-time leading score in basketball history with 49,737 career points scored in combined club and international play. In 38 career Olympic basketball games, Schmidt scored an astonishing 1,094 points, averaging an incredible 28.8 points per game.