View source for Maria Paula Silva

{{short description|Brazilian basketball player}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Maria Paula Silva
| image = Maria Paula Gonçalves da Silva.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|March 11, 1962}}
| birth_place = [[Osvaldo Cruz, São Paulo|Osvaldo Cruz]], [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]], Brazil
| height_cm       = 174
| weight_kg       = 60
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| bbr             = 
| bbr_wnba        =
| wnba_profile    = 
| HOF_player      = 
| womensHOF       = paula-goncalves-da-silva
| FIBA_HOF_player = Maria-Paula-Silva
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalSport | Women's [[basketball]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{BRA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Basketball at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]] }}
 {{MedalSilver | [[1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Atlanta]] | [[Basketball at the 1996 Summer Olympics|National team]] }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup|World Championship]] }}
 {{MedalGold | [[1994 FIBA World Championship for Women|1994 Australia]] | National team }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Pan American Games]] }}
 {{MedalGold | [[1991 Pan American Games|1991 Havana]] | [[Basketball at the 1991 Pan American Games|National team]] }}
 {{MedalSilver | [[1987 Pan American Games|1987 Indianapolis]] | [[Basketball at the 1987 Pan American Games|National team]] }}
 {{MedalBronze | [[1983 Pan American Games|1983 Caracas]] | [[Basketball at the 1983 Pan American Games|National team]] }}
}}

'''Maria Paula Gonçalves da Silva''' (born March 11, 1962, in [[Osvaldo Cruz, São Paulo|Osvaldo Cruz]], [[São Paulo (state)|São Paulo]]), nicknamed "Magic Paula", is a retired Brazilian [[women's basketball]] player. She is considered one of the greatest players in her country, along with [[Hortência Marcari]] and [[Janeth Arcain]]. For [[Brazil women's national basketball team]], Paula is the second biggest scorer, with 723 points (behind Hortência) and holds the record for caps with 45 games, being in two [[Olympic Games]] and six [[FIBA World Championship for Women|World Championships]].

Paula became a member of the [[Women's Basketball Hall of Fame]] in 2006<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wbhof.com/Goncalves.html |title=Paula Goncalves da Silva: Class of 2006 |publisher=WBHOF |access-date=2009-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704161316/http://www.wbhof.com/Goncalves.html |archive-date=2013-07-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and of the [[FIBA Hall of Famer|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 [[Pan American Games]], held in [[Puerto Rico]]. During the [[1983 FIBA World Championship for Women|1983 World Championship]] hosted by Brazil, reporter Juarez Araújo compared Paula's play to [[Magic Johnson]], leading to her long-lasting nickname of "Magic Paula".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.magicpaula.com.br/trajetoria/depoimentos/ |title=Depoimentos &#124; Magic Paula |access-date=2015-05-27 |archive-date=2015-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527195925/http://www.magicpaula.com.br/trajetoria/depoimentos/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> That same year, Paula and the national team improved their previous Pan American performance by winning a bronze medal at the [[Venezuela]] games, and, in 1987, went yet one more step further by winning a silver medal at the 1987 [[Indianapolis, Indiana|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 [[1992 Summer Olympics|Barcelona Olympics]].

In 1993, Paula went to [[Associação Atlética Ponte Preta]], where she played along with [[Hortência Marcari|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 [[Australia]], making Brazil the only country other than the [[Soviet Union]] or the [[United States]] to win the title ([[Australia]] became the fourth in 2006), and was named the most valuable player of that tournament. In 1996, she won a silver medal at the [[1996 Summer Olympics|Atlanta Olympics]], and retired from the national team after winning the 1997 [[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 commentated the basketball tournaments of the [[2011 Pan American Games]] and [[2012 Summer Olympics]] for [[Rede Record]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://maquinadoesporte.uol.com.br/artigo/magic-paula-vai-ser-comentarista-da-record_11153.html |title=Magic Paula vai ser comentarista da Record · Notícia · Máquina do Esporte |access-date=2015-05-27 |archive-date=2016-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923084438/http://maquinadoesporte.uol.com.br/artigo/magic-paula-vai-ser-comentarista-da-record_11153.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> the [[NBA playoffs]] and [[NBA All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] for [[Space (Latin American TV channel)|Space]] in 2014 and 2015,<ref>http://www.databasket.com/descricao.asp?NOME=Not%EDcia&IDMATERIA=29595 {{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and the [[2016 Summer Olympics]] for [[ESPN Brasil]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://espnmediazone.com/brazil/bios/magic-paula/ |title=Magic Paula |access-date=2016-10-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012075915/http://espnmediazone.com/brazil/bios/magic-paula/ |archive-date=2016-10-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Basketball in South America]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{in lang|pt}}[http://www.magicpaula.com.br/ Official website]
* {{in lang|pt}}[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927215507/http://www.cbb.com.br/atletas_tecnicos/atleta_tecnico.asp?cod=565&tipo=3 Paula at the Brazilian Confederation website]
* {{Twitter}}

{{Brazil Squad 1994 FIBA World Championship for Women}}
{{Brazil Women Basketball Squad 1996 Summer Olympics}}
{{Women's Basketball Hall of Fame}}
{{FIBA Hall of Fame}}

{{Portal bar|Basketball|Biography|Brazil|Sports}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Maria Paula}}
[[Category:1962 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Brazilian expatriate basketball people in Spain]]
[[Category:Brazilian women's basketball players]]
[[Category:FIBA Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Olympic basketball players for Brazil]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for Brazil]]
[[Category:Basketball players from São Paulo (state)]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil]]
[[Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists for Brazil]]
[[Category:Pan American Games basketball players for Brazil]]
[[Category:Pan American Games gold medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Pan American Games silver medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Pan American Games bronze medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1983 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1991 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games]]
[[Category:Goodwill Games medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of Ipiranga]]