Wlamir Marques

When he was 10-years-old Wlamir Marques began playing basketball and he went on to become one of the greatest Brazilian players of all time. Known as simply Wlamir, he joined São Vicente as a junior player before playing with XV de Piracicaba, winning the São Paulo State Championship in 1957 and 1960 with the latter. From 1962 to 1972 he played for Corinthians, winning five more state titles (1964–66, 1968–69), along with three Brazilian championships (1965–66, 1969).

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Wlamir was a mainstay with the Brazilian national basketball team, winning a plethora of medals at international competitions. In 1955 he won bronze at both the Pan American Games and the South American Championships, before winning four golds at the latter (1958, 1960, 1961, 1963). He won further medals at the Pan American Games too, with another bronze in 1959 and a silver in 1963. Wlamir also won two golds at the Basketball World Cup (1959, 1963), along with two silvers (1954, 1970).

In 1956 Wlamir made his first of what would be four appearances at the Olympics, with Brazil finishing sixth at the Melbourne Games. He was also the team’s leading scorer at the Games with 120 points, way ahead of his teammate Edson Bispo, who finished with 76 points. Four years later Wlamir won his first medal at the Olympics when Brazil finished third in the final round of the competition. He was once again their leading scorer with 146 points, just ahead of Amaury, who made 140.

Brazil repeated their success at the 1964 Tokyo Games with another bronze, beating Puerto Rico 76–60 in the medal match, with Wlamir again scoring the most points for the team with 128. He also had the honour of being the flagbearer for his nation at the Opening Ceremony. The 1968 Mexico City Olympics were the fourth and final Games for Wlamir, with Brazil just missing out on a medal after losing 70–53 to the Soviet Union in the play-off for third. For the fourth Games in a row he finished as the leading scorer for the team, with 140 points.

After his retirement as a player Wlamir worked as a coach for both XV de Piracicaba and Corinthians, along with other clubs in São Paulo, followed by a stint as a sports commentator with ESPN. In 1991 he was named as one of FIBA’s 50 Greatest Players.