It goes without saying that for a country to take home the Gold Medal in any Olympic sport, it must possess players with skill levels worthy of achieving the peak of success. This is no different in basketball, which has been a staple of the Summer Olympics since 1936.

Since that time, the game of basketball itself has evolved, becoming more offense-heavy as the years have gone on. With that, certain players have risen to the occasion, becoming stars by posting high numbers for their team and country in a single game on the biggest stage.

In some cases, the stars’ performances eventually led to them winning the Gold Medal for their team and country. The following are the five greatest individual performances in Olympic basketball history.

1

Oscar Schmidt – 55 Points

Schmidt put up 55 points in a game against Spain in 1988

The

NBA

is the peak basketball league of the world, and as such, the sport’s greatest players call that league home. But the greatest basketball player to never play in the NBA was Oscar Schmidt, and he owns multiple Olympic basketball records, including the greatest individual performance in its history.

During the 1988 Summer Olympics, the Brazilian Mão Santa put up a staggering 55 points in a game against Spain, which occurred on September 24 of that year. Interestingly, Schmidt and Brazil would go on to lose that game by a score of 118-110, and both Brazil and Spain would lose in the first round of the tournament.

However, that does not diminish the greatness of Oscar Schmidt, who had the most points of any basketball player in the entire world with 49,973, until

LeBron James

passed him (James now has 50,246). Schmidt’s offensive prowess was like no other Olympic player, and it only makes sense that he owns the record for most points put up in a single Olympic game.

2

Luka Dončić – 48 Points

Doncic put up 48 points in a game against Argentina in 2021

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Summer Olympics were delayed until the summer of 2021. Perhaps that delay helped

Luka Dončić

, who was able to get another year of development in the NBA under his belt, and used that to his advantage in the Olympics.

Dončić represented Slovenia in that year’s Olympics (as that is his country of origin). On July 26, 2021, Slovenia was taking on Argentina in the preliminary round, and Dončić would explode for 48 points, along with five assists.

Slovenia would go on to win the game by a blowout score of 118-100, and Dončić would now have his name in the history books with the second-greatest offensive performance. Slovenia would go on to lose to France in the Semifinals, but Dončić’s impact was still felt and made.

3

Eddie Palubinskas – 48 Points

Palubinskas put up 48 points in a game against Mexico in 1976

Before Luka Dončić scoring 48 points in an Olympic game in 2021, that mark stood beaten only by Oscar Schmidt. But 45 years prior, another player had reached that mark: Eddie Palubinskas in 1976.

The Australian basketball player represented his country during the 1976 Summer Olympics, and in a game against Mexico, he would put up 48 points. Australia would go on to defeat Mexico by a score of 120-117 in overtime, rendering all of Palubinskas’s points crucial in the victory.

After his playing career, Palubinskas became

Shaquille O’Neal

‘s personal shooting coach and was given a championship ring by the

L.A. Lakers

in 2001. In the years after working with Palubinskas, Shaq posted a career-high in free-throw percentage (62.2 percent). In the above photo, Palubinskas was filming O’Neal shooting free throws in a 2001 game where he went 13-of-13 from the line.

4

Oscar Schmidt – 46 Points

Schmidt put up 46 points in a game against the Soviet Union in 1988

Oscar Schmidt went ballistic mode in 1988, with multiple offensive explosions. It is when he scored his record 55 points in a game, which still remains unbeaten to this day, and he would also put up 46 points in two separate games.

The first of those two games would come against the Soviet Union in the 1988 Summer Olympics. That game would see Schmidt put the entire Brazilian national basketball team on his back, putting up a staggering 46 points in the affair.

Unfortunately for Schmidt, his performance would not be enough to garner the victory, and the loss came when it mattered. The Soviet Union defeated Brazil by a score of 110-105, and this was in the quarterfinals, so the loss meant that Schmidt and the Brazilians would be eliminated.

5

Oscar Schmidt – 46 Points

Schmidt put up 46 points in a game against Puerto Rico in 1988

The second game of the 1988 Summer Olympics in which Oscar Schmidt would put up 46 points actually came after Brazil were eliminated by the Soviet Union. That game occurred on September 26, and two days later on September 28 would be the Classification Round, which pinned the losers against each other.

The first game to take place in the 5-8 round was Brazil versus Puerto Rico, and even though Schmidt was already eliminated, he would not go down without a fight. He put up 46 points in the game against Puerto Rico, allowing Brazil to blow them out by a final score of 104-86.

Although Brazil never won a Gold Medal in basketball, Schmidt was still a winner on the court, and he would not go down without a fight. His various individual performances make him one of the greatest Olympic basketball players to ever grace the international court.

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