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"HE was, without doubt, one of the greatest players to ever play the game." The speaker? Larry Bird. His subject? Oscar Schmidt, arguably the greatest international player to not play in the NBA and the most prolific scoring machine in the history of the sport. Oscar Schmidt, 68, died in his beloved Brazil earlier this month.

The superstar Brazilian died after what his family said was a 15-year battle with brain cancer.

Schmidt is one of the most decorated players in international basketball history and like Kobe, Shaq, Magic or Larry, is most easily identified simply as Oscar.

Despite being drafted by the New Jersey Nets in 1984, he never played in the NBA because in the days when that was the only professional league in the world - allegedly - Oscar would have forfeited his chance to continue representing Brazil at FIBA's international events.

Instead he committed to his beloved Brazil and its national team for 19 years, becoming the most prolific scorer in basketball history.

He also starred in a historic win over the United States in the Final of the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis. The USA lineup included David Robinson and Danny Manning but Oscar, after scoring 11 in the first half, went off for 35 in the second, his 46-point tour de force steering Brazil to the Gold Medal 120-115.

"I was the choice No.144," he said of his NBA draft status in 1984 during his 2013 Hall of Fame induction speech. His idol Larry Bird laughed next to him. "They came to offer me a no-cut contract to play for the New Jersey Nets.

"I said thank you very much but if I play one game here I will never again play for my national team.

"Three years later we beat the Americans here in the US. Sorry, that was the greatest thing I did in basketball."

Actually, Oscar did plenty. Through five Olympics with the Brazilian national team he holds the all-time record for scoring in both the Olympics (1,093 points) and across four FIBA World Cups (906 points).

No other player has scored 800 points in the Olympics and just three have scored more than 600.

Oscar began his elite level career in 1974 playing mostly at home and in Italy. Having grown up with Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird as his idol, it was ironic he was future LA Laker Kobe Bryant's idol growing up when his father was playing in Italy.

At an imposing 204cm, Oscar was a keen 3-point shooter in the 1980s when many coaches were dubious about its use. His extraordinary range earned him the nickname "Mão Santa" or "Holy Hand", a tag he never embraced.

"I don't have a holy hand. I have a trained hand," he used to explain.

Debuting for Brazil at 19 in 1977, he made 326 international appearances, averaging 23.6 points per game. He still owns seven of the 10 highest-scoring games in Olympic history and the single-game records for points scored at the Games, with 55 against Spain in 1988 and at the World Cup with 52 against Australia in 1990.

He was by far Andrew Vlahov's greatest defensive challenge.

Oscar passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to be the unofficial all-time highest scorer. His known tally of 49,737 points for club and country was eclipsed by LeBron James in 2024 but in considerably more games.

He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2010, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.

Bird said he always hoped Oscar would come to the NBA just so he could compete against him. Contemporaries with similar styles, Bird wanted to see what that would be like up close.

But as it never happened, Bird instead became one of Schmidt's biggest American supporters, even accepting the honour of presenting Oscar at his enshrinement in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

"I always admired Oscar and considered him a friend," Bird said. "He was, without a doubt, one of the greatest players to ever play the game.

"It was an honour of a lifetime when Oscar asked me to present him at his well deserved induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. My sincere condolences to Oscar's family."

May he rest in peace.