Starting this Saturday (18), shirt number 14 will no longer enter the court to defend the Flamengo men’s basketball team.
In honor of the idol Oscar Schmidt, who died on Friday (17), the club announced this Saturday that the number 14 uniform is retired and will not be used by any other athlete from the red-black club.
Flamengo was the last team Oscar played for professionally.
According to a statement from the club, Oscar “marked an era with the Sacred Mantle between 1999 and 2003, leaving a legacy that transcends the courts and will continue to inspire generations. Oscar Schmidt is a heritage of the sport of Flamengo, Brazil and the world. His story helped shape basketball as we know it today and will remain an eternal reference of excellence, talent and passion.”
The star from Rio de Janeiro, who had already played for big clubs in Brazil, such as Palmeiras, Sírio and Corinthians, arrived at the Rio club in 1999, coming from Mackenzie, from São Paulo. He stayed on the Gávea team until 2003; He played in 219 matches, scored 7,241 points out of the total of 49,973 he scored throughout his career and won two Rio championships (1999 and 2002) and a Brazilian runner-up (2000).
In 2002, a curious fact. At 44 years old, Oscar played alongside his son Felipe Schmidt in a match against Mogi das Cruzes (SP) for the Brazilian Championship. The boy, aged 16, had been playing in the club’s youth teams and was selected to face the team from São Paulo.
That year, the national champion was Bauru, and Flamengo was only in fifth place. But Oscar left his mark: he was the competition’s top scorer, with 1,183 points
This Sunday night (19), at Maracanã, the football team will pay tribute to the basketball idol.
In the clash with Bahia for the Brazilian Championship, scheduled to start at 7:30 pm, Uruguayan De Arrascaeta, who wears shirt number 10, will play with number 14, the number he wore from when he arrived at the club, in 2019, until last year.
