1984 NBA Draft - Some things you may not have known

Everybody knows that the 1984 NBA Draft class is considered one of the best ever featuring such names as Jordan, Hakeem, Barkley and Stockton.

But did you know, back in '84 the draft had not two but TEN rounds of picks?!

With the 131st pick in the sixth round, the New Jersey Nets selected Brazilian and Olympic legend Oscar Schmidt.  However, Schmidt turned down the offers to play in the NBA and stayed to play in Italy and later in Brazil. He played in five Olympics and was the top scorer in three of them. He finished his career with 49,703 points with various clubs and the Brazilian national team, more than the NBA's career scoring leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 points in his NBA career.

BUT ... the funniest fact that I think I knew but forgot, was ... with the 208th pick in the tenth round, the Chicago Bulls select ... University of Houston track and field athlete Carl Lewis! Despite never having played college basketball the Chicago Bulls picked the soon to be Olympic legend. Not surprisingly, Lewis stayed with his athletics career and went on to win nine Olympic gold medals and eight World Championship gold medals.

Basketball shooting legend - Oscar Schmidt

I came across this article on Bounce Magazine and had to give it love by sharing it here.

Oscar Schmidt made our list of the top ten all-time greatest shooters but wouldn't be known by that many people, especially the younger readers. Read (click on the title below to read the full story), learn and make sure to watch the video clips. The man was a legend ...

The Semi-Automatic: Oscar Schmidt | Streetball, Sneakers, Bobbito, Nike Air Force, Jordans

Basketball, broken down to its simplest compound, is about scoring more buckets than the team you’re playing against. The Semi-Automatic refers to players who leave bodies in their wake with their innate ability to get buckets. And few players can truly say that they are, or ever were, on the same level as the man known as “Mao Santa”, aka “The Holy Hand.”

Who is the greatest player to never wear an NBA uniform? Valid arguments could be made for asphalt legends like Joe Hammond aka “The Destroyer” aka “Dirty Hand Joe”, Oakland’s Hook Mitchell, Pee Wee Kirkland, Earl Manigault aka “The Goat” and others of similar stature. But don’t forget about Oscar.

“Who is that?”, you might be asking yourself. Oscar Schmidt is simply a legend among legends from Brazil. Outside of America, along with those enligtened souls within the USA who understand the man’s place in the game’s pantheon, he’s considered one of the greatest basketball players to ever grace God’s green earth.