2019 Class of FIBA Hall of Fame: Fabricio Oberto

MIES (Switzerland) - Fabricio Oberto, a 2004 Olympic champion and leading member of Argentina's golden generation, is being inducted into the 2019 class of the FIBA Hall of Fame.

Oberto is among eight former players being enshrined into the Hall of Fame alongside Janeth Arcain (Brazil), Margo Dydek (Poland - posthumously), Atanas Golomeev (Bulgaria); Alonzo Mourning (United States), Jose "Piculin" Ortiz (Puerto Rico), Mohsen Medhat Warda (Egypty) and Jiri Zidek (Czech Republic). Joining them are coaches Natalia Hejkova (Slovak Republic), Bogdan Tanjevic (Montenegro) and Mou Zuoyun (China - posthumously). They were selected from a list of more than 150 candidates. 

A native of Las Varillas, near Cordoba, Oberto is one of his country's most beloved sportsmen after competing at the highest level of the sport in South America, Europe and North America.

A broken hand suffered in a Semi-Final win over the USA didn't keep Oberto from celebrating 2004 Olympic gold

He burst onto the international basketball scene as a 20-year-old on the Argentina team that won the 1995 Pan American Games, something that foreshadowed greatness.

The following year, Oberto got his first taste of the Olympics, at the Atlanta Games, where he was El Alma's third leading scorer at 8.3 points per game.

A couple of years later, while representing Argentina at a very demanding FIBA U22 Basketball World Cup in Melbourne, Australia, Oberto displayed skill and strength in abundance with his scoring, rebounding and defense as the country finished an impressive fourth.

After averaging 12.9 points and 10.4 rebounds for the senior team that reached the Quarter-Finals at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 1998 in Athens, Greece, Oberto helped his country make international headlines.

He impressed throughout the 2002 World Cup in Indianapolis, Indiana, including in the Final against Yugoslavia with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Yet Argentina suffered an overtime heartbreak.

Two years later and the glory was at last his and Argentina's. Oberto again excelled as Argentina won Gold at the Olympics in Greece.

He almost made it back to the World Cup Final in 2006 but Argentina fell to eventual champions Spain in the final seconds of their Semi-Final, while in 2008 he played a vital role for his country as they overcame injuries to key players during the Olympic tournament in Beijing, China. Argentina reached the podium with a Bronze Medal Game triumph over Lithuania.

At his last World Cup, in 2010 in Turkey, Oberto again lent his combative presence to the cause as Argentina came in fifth out of 24 teams.

Oberto was at his gritty and determined best as Argentina claimed bronze at the 2008 Olympics

In his final summer with Argentina, and on home soil for the FIBA AmeriCup 2011, Oberto played big minutes and helped his country win that tournament title. It was his second AmeriCup championship after capturing the crown in 2001.

Oberto was a standout player for Atenas in Argentina for several years before leaving for Europe to suit up for Olimpiacos, Baskonia and Valencia, while in 2005 he left for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, winning an NBA title in 2007.

After four years with the Spurs, Oberto joined the Washington Wizards for a season and then signed with Portland, although his spell with the Trail Blazers was cut short due to health concerns. Having decided to retire after that, Oberto did come back and play professionally again, in 2013 with Atenas, before calling it quits for good.

Name	Fabricio Oberto
Category of Inductee	Player
Date of birth	March 21, 1975
Place of birth	Cordoba, Argentina
Nationality	Argentinian/Italian
Height	2.08 m – 6ft 10in
Clubs	Atenas (1993-1998) Olympiakos (1998-1999) Tau Ceràmica (2000-2002) Pamesa Valencia (2002-2005) San Antonio Spurs (2005-2009) Washington Wizard (2009-2010) Portland Trail Blazers (2010) Atenas (2013) [/unordered]
Club highlights	Argentinian Youth League Champion (1993) South American Club Championship Champion (1994) Pan American Club Championship Champion (1996) Two-time FIBA South American League Champion (1997, 1998) Argentinian League (LBN) Champion (1998) Copa del Rey (Spanish King's Cup) Champion (2002) Spanish League (ACB) Champion (2002) EuroCup Champion (2003) NBA Champion (2007) [/unordered]
National team highlights	Pan American Games gold medalist (1995)  Two-time FIBA AmeriCup silver medalist (1995, 2003)  Participated in Olympic Games (1996) Participated in FIBA 22 and Under World Championship (1997) FIBA South American Championship bronze medalist (1997) Two-time FIBA AmeriCup gold medalist (2001. 2011) FIBA Basketball World Cup silver medalist (2002) Olympic Games gold medalist (2004) FIBA Diamond Ball bronze medalist (2004) FIBA Diamond Ball gold medalist (2008) Olympic Games bronze medalist (2008) [/unordered]
Individual highlights	Argentinian League (LNB) Sla Dunk Contest Champion (1995) FIBA South American League MVP (1998) Argentinian League (LNB) MVP (1998) Argentinian League (LNB) Finals MVP (1998) [/unordered]

The 2019 Class will be enshrined into FIBA's Hall of Fame during a special ceremony taking place in Beijing, China, on August 30, on the eve of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 tipping off. 

FIBA