The oldest of the place may be familiar with the name of the title, even the protagonist was the cover of number 622 (1997) of the magazine Basketball Giants. We talk about Leandro Bredariol (1980)a Brazilian from 218 centimeters that Real Madrid signed in 1997.
But first of all, let’s put ourselves in context. Barcelona had just recruited Roberto Dueñas from Fuenlabrada (months before a coach from the Fuenlabrada club had signed him at a bus stop in the Madrid town). The appearance of Dueñas, the head of Spanish basketball for many years, whom Barça quickly polished by making him a differential factor, led Real Madrid to search for the anti-Dueñas for years. In this way, the white quarry, which did not have the current operation promoted by Alberto Angulo, among others, and which now bears so much fruit with national and international talents in all its training teams, found the Brazilian post.
The arrival of Leandro Bredariol was a long-term bet that finally did not work out, passing without pain or glory for the white subsidiary. A native of Itatiba, 80 kilometers from São Paulo, Bredariol was a young Brazilian who worked as a “courier” between companies in his city, without having any contact with the orange ball. Among the streets of his city, the Spanish businessman Luis Martín discovered him, aware of his existence because a friend of his wife had a very tall cousin and noting that those 215 centimeters they were talking about at that time were not a popular exaggeration. Between Leandro’s father, Vanderlei Bredariol, and Luis Martín himself, they managed to convince the boy to try basketball. Thus, in 1997 he began his first serious training while Martín, with several Brazilian athletes on his agenda, began contacts with Real Madrid, a coach from the Madrid entity going to Brazil to see him, being captivated by his height, but with the doubt his non-existent basketball fundamentals.
Basketball Giants, led by Nacho Doria, put us on the track in Spain in October 1997, when he arrived in the capital of Madrid. Tirso Lorente, assistant coach of Madrid at that time, received him in Barajas with a clear idea: he could not yet be considered a basketball player and he had to be very patient, as it was a medium-long-term project. In these tests a good wrist was observed, but what was most difficult for him was to make a mate. Which made evident the hard physical work that he had ahead of him, since he touched a higher point with his feet on the ground than by jumping.
Junior’s coach, Carlos Saiz de Aja, spoke of him as a long-term project. “If we managed to make this season really useful in the Junior, we would have gone halfway, and in 3 or 4 years I could perform in the ACB with guarantees”, he pointed out. His first trip outside of Brazil, with his first trip by plane, made him look with his humility and shyness, but living every experience of the test where he even met one of his soccer idols such as his compatriot Roberto Carlos, legendary left back. from Real Madrid.
With an Italian passport already in hand (because of his grandmother) and without ever having signed a federative record, his 218 centimeters and his good data in medical, physiognomy and structure studies made Real Madrid sign him a five-year contract, returning to his native Brazil to finish his studies before finally joining the Whites at the beginning of 1998. Already in Spain, on a personal level he adapted quickly, without problems with the language; on the dance floor it was another story, as he told Newspaper. The aforementioned medium once again emphasized his shyness, answering the interview with many monosyllables, and stated that he shared an apartment with two other teammates and that he received, in addition to not bearing the costs of accommodation, maintenance and studies, a salary close to $3,000 a month.
Finally, his time in the FEB Competitions was on tiptoe, even though he played several summer leagues with the Whites and was even invited to the 1998 Nike Eurocamp (along with Pau Gasol and Navarro, for example). His data in EBA does not lie. In 99/00, his second season in Spain, he played 26 games for the reserve team (12 mi, 1.0 pt, 1.8 re, 0.7 ta), dropping his averages the following season (00/01), his last in Spain (16 games and barely 4 minutes on court). “Lack of coordination, little lover of work and with little or no desire to improve,” they said in Solobasket, who realized his failure. It collected the historic website that had also had time to participate as a secondary in the Spanish film warrior’s heartby director Daniel Monzón.
Once he left Real Madrid, without being able to play basketball, nor being the anti-Dueñas, the tallest basketball player in Brazil at the time left that sport parked, being one more story of it.
