Maria Paula Silva

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Maria Paula Silva
Personal information
BornMarch 11, 1962 (1962-03-11) (age 62)
Osvaldo Cruz, São Paulo, Brazil
Listed height174 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Listed weight60 kg (132 lb)
Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
FIBA Hall of Fame as player
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing  Brazil
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta National team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 1994 Australia National team
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1991 Havana National team
Silver medal – second place 1987 Indianapolis National team
Bronze medal – third place 1983 Caracas National team

Maria Paula Gonçalves da Silva (born March 11, 1962, in

World Championships
.

Paula became a member of the

FIBA Hall of Fame
in 2013.

Career

Paula begun playing basketball at the age of ten, and in 1974, was invited to join Assis Tênis Clube. One year and a half later, the team folded and Paula went to Jundiaí to play for Colégio Divino Salvador, and a few months later, was drafted for the first time by the national team despite being only fourteen. In 1988, Paula went to play in Spain, but an injured knee and difficulties of adaptation brought her back to Brazil in 1991.

In 1979, she helped her team to a fourth place at the

Indianapolis Pan Americans. In 1991, Paula and the Brazilian women's national basketball team won the gold medal at that year's Pan American tournament, held in Cuba, being the player which most impressed Cuban president Fidel Castro
.

In 1992, Paula helped her team qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time. Brazil finished in seventh place at the Barcelona Olympics.

In 1993, Paula went to Associação Atlética Ponte Preta, where she played along with Hortência and won the World Championship for clubs. After discussions with Hortência, Paula returned to Piracicaba.

In 1994, Paula won the women's world basketball championship in

FIBA Americas Championship for Women
. She still played for clubs before retiring in 2000.

After retirement, Paula became an entrepreneur, director of the Centro Olímpico do Ibirapuera, and worked for a while in the Brazilian Ministry of Sports. She also commented the basketball tournaments of the

ESPN Brasil.[5]

See also

  • Basketball in South America

References

  1. ^ "Paula Goncalves da Silva: Class of 2006". WBHOF. Archived from the original on 2013-07-04. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  2. ^ "Depoimentos | Magic Paula". Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  3. ^ "Magic Paula vai ser comentarista da Record · Notícia · Máquina do Esporte". Archived from the original on 2016-09-23. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  4. ^ http://www.databasket.com/descricao.asp?NOME=Not%EDcia&IDMATERIA=29595 [permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Magic Paula". Archived from the original on 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2016-10-11.

External links