Oswaldo Cruz (Brasil), 1962

By Pablo Alabarces

Known as “Magic” Paula, the phenomenal basketball player Maria Paula Gonçalves da Silva was born in the interior of São Paulo. At the age of fourteen, she was called up to the national team, becoming a starter the following year. Along with Hortência, she was part of the Brazilian team that made history in the sport, winning gold (1991), silver (1987), and bronze (1983) medals at the Pan American Games, the silver medal at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, and the World Championship in 1994 in Australia, where they defeated China. Until then, only the United States and Russia had contested the final.

Her professional career developed in Brazil and Spain. In 1998, she received an offer to play in the WNBA, but the financial proposal did not attract her. She retired from the courts in 2000 after 28 years of playing, with 22 of those years spent defending the national team.

In 2003, she took on the position of national secretary at the Ministry of Sports. She held the position for ten months, resigning due to disagreements with the leadership of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB). In November 2006, she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in the United States, and in 2013, she was also inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). She conceived and now directs the “Instituto Passe de Mágica,” a non-governmental organization where educational sports activities are developed for children and adolescents in situations of social vulnerability.