Óscar Furlong

Óscar Furlong played basketball for Argentina at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics and was considered their greatest player in that era. He led them to the 1950 World Championship and helped them win silver medals at the 1951 and 1955 Pan American Games. Furlong was even courted by the NBA Minneapolis Lakers but he turned them down so he could still represent his nation internationally. He ended up playing in the US in college at Southern Methodist University (SMU).

Furlong expected to play at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics but in 1955 the Juan Perón government was overthrown by a military junta. The players had dedicated their 1950 World Championship to Perón and had been given cars after that title. The new government objected to dedicating anything to Perón and reported the cars to FIBA, which banned them from further international play as professionals.

Furlong ran his company’s trucking firm, which also ran into trouble after the revolution. He acted in one movie En cuerpo y alma and was still a celebrity, but he turned to a new sport, tennis, and became quite good, especially in doubles. He was a seven-time national doubles champion and was ranked as high as #7 in the nation in singles.

Furlong became a member of the Argentine Tennis Association in 1966 and later became vice-president. He also coached the Argentine Davis Cup team in the 1970s, leading them to the semi-finals of the Davis Cup in 1977. In later years when people wanted to talk to him about basketball he always insisted on turning the conversation around to tennis.