101 Greats of European Basketball

An atypical star
The personal ID card of Wayne Brabender
says that he was born on October 16,
1945, in Montevideo. The first association
would be Uruguay, but he is not from
that country’s capital. In the state of
Minnesota, in the United States, there is
another Montevideo which probably would have never
entered sports history without Brabender.
When he was just 7 years old, his first coach, Terry
Donay, taught Brabender his first steps in a sport
called basketball. That decided the future of the blond
and thin kid who, judging by his physical attributes,
probably shouldn’t have had a bright career in a sport
normally reserved for bigger and stronger men. However,
since the very dawn of his career, Brabender was
just a different kind of player. With good technique,
solid jumping ability, great defense and, most of all, an
excellent shot, he would become the best player on his
high school team.
At 22 years old Brabender was already a physical
education teacher, but his immediate future would be
involved with basketball, no doubt. In the 1967 NBA
Draft, the Philadelphia 76ers picked him at number
145. Destiny, however, would have different plans for
the young Brabender.
Pedro Ferrandiz, the visionary
The legendary coach of Real Madrid, Pedro Ferrandiz,
was a pioneer in many things, and especially in
bringing good American players to Europe. Ferrandiz
just didn’t trust anyone. If he heard rumors about a
player being good, he had to go see for himself. Then,
he would make sure to check out a few more players in
order to make the trip worthwhile. No middlemen, no
agents, no videos, which didn’t exist: Don Pedro just
packed up his suitcase and toured the USA. More often
than not, he came back to Madrid with a future star.
When he saw Brabender he had no doubts about
him. That was the player he needed to fill the spot of
the second foreigner in the EuroLeague. According to
legend, when Ferrandiz knocked on the door of Brabender’s
house, Wayne himself opened the door and
Ferrandiz asked him if he had an older brother because
the young man seemed even smaller off the court than
on it. After working out the misunderstanding, one of
the better and most profitable contracts in Real Madrid’s
history was put to paper.
On August 26, 1967, young Wayne Brabender landed
in Madrid and started his Spanish adventure, which has
now lasted 50 years and counting. Everyone in Madrid,
from the club itself to the media, was surprised by the
looks of the new American, because normally Ferrandiz
brought back big men. Also, Real Madrid already had
Miles Aiken for the Spanish League, so it was planned
that Brabender would only play in the EuroLeague, on
which the team placed such high aspirations. It wasn’t
easy at all for Brabender to play only in EuroLeague
games or practice all alone on the weekends, while the
team was elsewhere playing in the domestic championship.
But Brabender dealt with it all and the club also
showed patience with him.
In the traditional Real Madrid Christmas tournament
of 1967, the American rookie exploded with 30 points
while showing great qualities on offense. His outside
shot was perfect, and he was a great complement to
the inside game of Aiken and Clifford Luyk. Right off the
101 greats of european basketball
Wayne Brabender
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