Ubiratan "Bira" Pereira Maciel, commonly known as Bira Maciel, or simply Bira (January 18, 1944 – July 17, 2002), was a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player from Brazil. He was born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. At a height of 1.99 m (6' 6") tall, he played at the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position. He is often regarded as the best Brazilian center of all time. He was nicknamed "O Rei" (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: "The King").

Club career

Maciel won the top-tier level

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

league in Brazil, the

Brazilian Basketball Championship The Campeonato Brasileiro de Basquete (English: Brazilian Basketball Championship) is the annual championship title of the top-tier level men's professional basketball league in Brazil. Over the years, the championship has been held under differ ...

, 5 times, in the years 1965, 1966, 1969, 1977, and 1981.

National team career

With the senior

Brazilian national basketball team The Brazil national basketball team is governed by the Brazilian Basketball Confederation ( pt, Confederação Brasileira de Basketball), abbreviated as CBB. They have been a member of the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA), since 19 ...

, Maciel won a total of 8 medals at the

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

FIBA World Cup The FIBA Basketball World Cup, also known as the FIBA World Cup of Basketball or simply the FIBA World Cup, between 1950 and 2010 known as the FIBA World Championship, is an international basketball competition contested by the senior men's nat ...

, and

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

. Ubiratan Pereira Maciel played at 5

s: (

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, and

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

). He totaled 41 games played and 474 points scored during those competitions, and he won a gold medal at the 1963 tournament in Brazil.

Post-playing career

Maciel was named one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

in 1991. He was awarded the

FIBA Order of Merit FIBA Order of Merit is an international basketball award that is awarded by FIBA, the international basketball federation. The award is given to individuals that have made very significant individual contributions to furthering the sport of basket ...

in 1994. In 2009, he was inducted into the

FIBA Hall of Fame The FIBA Hall of Fame, or FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame, honors players, coaches, teams, referees, and administrators who have greatly contributed to international competitive basketball. It was established by FIBA, in 1991. It includes the " Samar ...

, as a player. On April 5, 2010, Maciel was announced as a member of the 2010 induction class of the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

, as a player, and was formally inducted on August 13.

References

External links

FIBA Profile 1FIBA Hall of Fame ProfileBasketball-Reference.com ProfileBrazilian Basketball Federation Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maciel, Ubiratan Pereira 1944 births 2002 deaths Brazilian men's basketball players 1963 FIBA World Championship players 1967 FIBA World Championship players 1970 FIBA World Championship players 1974 FIBA World Championship players 1978 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players at the 1963 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1979 Pan American Games Centers (basketball) Esporte Clube Sírio basketball players FIBA Hall of Fame inductees FIBA World Championship-winning players Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Olympic basketball players of Brazil Olympic bronze medalists for Brazil Olympic medalists in basketball Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil Pan American Games medalists in basketball Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Power forwards (basketball) Reyer Venezia players São José Basketball players Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras basketball players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista basketball players Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Basketball players from São Paulo