Alessandra Santos de Oliveira (born 2 December 1973 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 GaW ...

) is a Brazilian former

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 who spent 17 years in the national team, winning the

1994 FIBA World Championship for Women The 1994 FIBA Women's World Championship was the 12th edition of the FIBA Women's World Championship, an quadrennial international tournament played by women's basketball teams in FIBA. It was hosted in Australia from 2 to 12 June 1994 at fiv ...

and two Olympic medals, silver in

Atlanta 1996 The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta ...

, and bronze in

Sydney 2000 The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

, along with a fourth place in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

and the 1998 and 2006 World Championships. She has also competed in 10 different countries, including three WNBA teams -

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

(1998–99),

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

(2000) and

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

(2001).

WNBA

On January 27, 1998, Oliveira was assigned to the

as part of the initial player allocation. Her debut game was played on June 11, 1998 in a 57 - 83 loss to the

Charlotte Sting The Charlotte Sting were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, one of the league's eight original teams. The team folded on January 3, 2007. The Sting was originally the sister organization of ...

where she recorded 5 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal. During her rookie season, after losing her starting position to Heidi Burge, Oliveira would miss 14 straight games with the Mystics from July 14 to August 16. She did start in 12 of her 16 played games and her averages of the season were 11.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Even with her productive stat line, the Mystics finished with a still franchise-worst 3 - 27 record (2 - 14 in the games where Oliveira played). In the 1999 season, Oliveira would lose her starting Center position after 5 games to teammate

Murriel Page LaMurriel Page (born September 18, 1975) is a former American college and professional basketball player who was a forward and center in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for eleven seasons. Page played college basketball for th ...

and her minutes per game dropped from 30.1 in her rookie season to 16.6 in her sophomore season. The Mystics then traded Oliveira on July 11 to the

Houston Comets The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. They are one of two ...

for Nyree Roberts. Roberts would go on to play only 8 games with the Mystics and those were the final games of her WNBA career. While Oliveira, did not play a single game for the Comets and sat out the rest of the 1999 season. For the 2000 season, Oliveira signed a contract with the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was ...

on May 2 but was waived during the same month on May 28. Eleven days later on June 7, she signed a contract with the

but she would only play three games for the team recording 3 points and 3 rebounds in 11 total minutes. Oliveira's final playing days in the WNBA would be spent as a member of the

. She first signed with the team on April 30, 2001 but had her contract suspended on May 27. She was able to return to the team and play during the 2001 season. In just 10 games with the Storm (winning once and losing the other nine games), she averaged 1.3 points and 1.6 rebounds per game. She would be waived by the Storm on May 24, 2002, less than a month before the 2002 season started. Oliveira never made the playoffs during her career and her final game ever was played on August 14, 2001 in a 62 - 72 loss to the

Sacramento Monarchs The Sacramento Monarchs were a basketball team based in Sacramento, California. They played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 until folding on November 20, 2009. They played their home games at ARCO Arena. The Mon ...

. In her final game, Oliveira played for five and half minutes and recorded 2 points and 1 rebound.https://www.basketball-reference.com/wnba/boxscores/200108140SEA.html

References

External links