Oscar Schmidt, who has been enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame located in Massachusetts, weighed in on Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James approaching his record for the most points scored in world basketball history.
Oscar Schmidt, the leading scorer in world basketball history (49,737 pts), on LeBron James being on the verge of breaking his record:
"I love the way he plays. … He's a perfect player. … Records are made to be broken." pic.twitter.com/KQsuMNrQ75
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@pablofindsout) March 14, 2024
Schmidt is one of the most accomplished international basketball players ever. He played in the Olympics on five separate occasions for the senior Brazil national team and starred in every tournament, as he didn’t average fewer than 24.1 points per game in any tournament.
The 66-year-old was historically dominant for Brazil in the 1988 Olympics. Across eight games, he averaged 42.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 56.9 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from 3-point range.
During that tournament, he helped lead Brazil to victories over Canada, China and Puerto Rico.
To put into perspective just how talented Schmidt was, he led the entire tournament in total points, points per game, total offensive rebounds, free-throw percentage, 3-point percentage and minutes played in 1988.
But despite Schmidt’s heroics, Brazil didn’t end up winning a medal in basketball in the 1988 Olympics.
Interestingly, Schmidt was drafted by the New Jersey Nets in the sixth round of the 1984 NBA Draft, but he never ended up playing a single game with the team.
James, who is on the heels of surpassing Schmidt’s unbelievable scoring record, accomplished an NBA scoring milestone earlier this month. He passed the 40,000-point mark in the Lakers’ 10-point loss to the Denver Nuggets on March 2.
While not quite the international player that Schmidt was, James still boasts an impressive resume from an international standpoint. James has played in three Olympics since joining the NBA and earned two gold medals in 2008 and 2012.
Also, James has hinted at the possibility of playing in the upcoming 2024 Olympics, which is set to take place in Paris.
Schmidt deserves credit for seemingly taking the fact that James is closing in on his world scoring record of nearly 50,000 points in stride.
