Fabricio Paulino de Melo (; June 20, 1990 – February 11, 2017) was a Brazilian 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. He played one season in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

(NBA) for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

before returning to his home country and playing for Liga Sorocabana and

Brasília Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...

of the Brazilian

Novo Basquete Brasil Novo Basquete Brasil (NBB) (English language, English: New Basketball Brazil) is the Brazilian premier professional men's basketball league. It is organized by the Liga Nacional de Basquete (LNB) (National Basketball League), in a new format of B ...

(NBB). Prior to entering the NBA in 2012, he played two years of college basketball for

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

, where he was named the

Big East Defensive Player of the Year The Big East Conference gave five football awards at the conclusion of every season. The awards were first given in 1991 following the conference's first football season, and last given in 2012 before the conference was restructured as the American ...

as a sophomore.

High school and college career

Melo arrived in the United States in 2008 and enrolled at Sagemont School in

Weston, Florida Weston is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just west of Fort Lauderdale. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which is anchored by Miami. The population was 68,107 at the 2020 census. Weston is 30 miles northwest of Miam ...

. After graduating from Sagemont in 2010, Melo joined the

Syracuse Orange men's basketball The Syracuse Orange men's basketball program is an college basketball, intercollegiate men's basketball team representing Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. The program is classified in the Division I (NCAA), Division I of the National Co ...

team. He spent two seasons playing for head coach

Jim Boeheim James Arthur Boeheim Jr. ( ; born November 17, 1944) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach of the Syracuse Orange men's team of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Boeheim has guided the Orange to ten Big East Conference ...

at Syracuse and was part of the Orange team that went 34–3 overall and 17–1 in the Big East in 2012. Melo averaged 7.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in the 2011–12 campaign. He was suspended twice during the season, once for three games during the regular season and again for the NCAA tournament due to academics. Melo's academic eligibility was also part of the NCAA investigation in which the Syracuse program self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2014–15 season. Melo claimed he was failing because he didn't understand English. Despite these issues, Melo was named the

Big East The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Defensive Player of the Year. In April 2012, Melo declared for the NBA draft, forgoing his final two years of college eligibility.

Professional career

NBA

On June 28, 2012, Melo was selected by the

with the 22nd overall pick in the first round of the

2012 NBA draft The 2012 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2012, at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The draft started at 7:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (2300 UTC), and was broadcast in the United States on ESPN. In this draft, National Basketball A ...

. On July 3, 2012, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Celtics. He played six games in the NBA for Boston during the 2012–13 campaign, but mostly spent the year in the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) official minor league basketball organization. The league was known as the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) from 2001 to 2005, and the NBA Dev ...

with the

Maine Red Claws The Maine Celtics (formerly the Maine Red Claws) are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Portland, Maine, and are affiliated with the Boston Celtics. The Maine Celtics play their home games at the Portland Expo B ...

. On December 22, 2012, in Maine's 85–78 loss to the Erie BayHawks, Melo recorded a triple-double and set a new NBA Development League record for blocked shots in a game with 14; he also had 15 points and 16 rebounds to register just the third triple-double in team history. At the end of the season, he was named to the NBA D-League All-Defensive First Team and All-Rookie First Team. On August 15, 2013, Melo was traded to the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

in exchange for

Donté Greene Donté Dominic Greene (born February 21, 1988) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Syracuse Orange for one year before being selected with the 28th overall pick by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 200 ...

. He was later waived by the Grizzlies on August 30, 2013. On September 10, 2013, Melo signed with the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Southwest Division. Th ...

, but he was ultimately waived on October 22. On January 22, 2014, Melo was acquired by the

Texas Legends The Texas Legends are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Frisco, Texas, and are affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks. The Legends play their home games at the Comerica Center. The team began as the Colorado ...

of the NBA Development League.

Brazil

On August 1, 2014, Melo signed with Brazilian team

Club Athletico Paulistano Club Athletico Paulistano –generally known as just Paulistano– is a sports and social club from the Brazilian metropolis São Paulo located in the quarter of Jardim América, close to the city. The club was founded on 29 December 1900 fo ...

of the NBB. However, he never appeared in a game for Paulistano. On April 7, 2015, he signed with

Caciques de Humacao Caciques de Humacao was a professional basketball team based in Humacao, Puerto Rico. The club competed in the National Superior Basketball (, BSN). History In 2010, Antonio "Tonin" Casillas, owner of the Grises de Humacao, decided to give the ...

in Puerto Rico, but soon left before appearing in a game for the team. In November 2015, Melo signed with Liga Sorocabana for the remainder of the 2015–16 season. In June 2016, he signed with

. He played in six games for Brasília during the

Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol The Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol (LSB), or FIBA Liga Sudamericana de Básquetbol (Portuguese: ''Liga Sul-Americana de Basquete'', English: ''South American Basketball League''), also commonly known as FIBA South American League, is the seco ...

and appeared in one regular season game on November 30, 2016.

Death

Melo died on February 11, 2017, at the age of 26. He was pronounced dead at home in

Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora (, '' Outsider Judge''), also known as J.F., is a city in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, approximately from the state border with Rio de Janeiro. According to 2020 estimates the current population is about 57 ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literall ...

, Brazil; sources state that he went to sleep and was discovered dead the following morning by his mother. It was later discovered after an autopsy report that he had suffered a heart attack.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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References

External links

Fab Melo
at nba.com
Fab Melo
at

Syracuse University Athletics The Syracuse Orange are the athletic teams that represent Syracuse University. The school is a member of NCAA Division I and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Until 2013, Syracuse was a member of the Big East Conference. The school's mascot is ...

Get To Know Fab Melo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Melo, Fab 1990 births 2017 deaths Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Brazilian men's basketball players Brazilian expatriate basketball people in the United States Centers (basketball) Maine Red Claws players McDonald's High School All-Americans National Basketball Association players from Brazil Novo Basquete Brasil players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Juiz de Fora Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Texas Legends players UniCEUB/BRB players Sportspeople from Minas Gerais