The Boston Celtics added their second Sixth Man of the Year to the roster on Wednesday when they signed combo guard Leandro Barbosa. In doing so, they also added the second Brazilian-born player to the team.
Barbosa, a native of Sao Paolo, will join rookie Fab Melo, who grew up in Juiz de Fora.
The 29-year-old Barbosa began his professional basketball career in his home country. He was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs with the 28th pick in the 2003 Draft and started his NBA career at age 21.
Melo, 22, lived in Brazil until he was 17 when he moved to the United States to attend high school in Florida. He played college basketball at Syracuse University and was drafted by the Celtics with the 22nd overall pick in June.
Barbosa and Melo are currently two of only five Brazilian-born athletes in the NBA, along with big men Nen (Washington Wizards), Tiago Splitter (San Antonio Spurs), and Anderson Varejao (Cleveland Cavaliers). This season Melo became the tenth player from Brazil to play in the league. Previous players include Rafael Araujo, Rolando Ferreira, Alex Garcia, Joao Vianna, and Marcus Vinicius.