RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil) - Leandro Barbosa has a list of accomplishments that most basketball players can only dream of.

He's played at two Olympics and five FIBA Basketball World Cups, received the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award and captured a NBA title.

There is something that has eluded the 37-year-old, though.

Barbosa soared through the air for Brazil at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016

"We (Brazil) want to win the (major) title," he said. "We haven't been able to do it, yet, but I've got hope and while I have that, I'm going (try) to leave something special."

In the modern era, Brazil have had good teams but not great ones. They have not won Olympic gold medals or FIBA Basketball World Cups.

The national team did capture world titles more than half a century ago, in 1959 and 1963, and famously beat the United States in the Pan American Games Final in Indianapolis behind the legendary Oscar Schmidt in 1987.

In more recent times, Barbosa helped Brazil win FIBA AmeriCup titles in 2005 and 2009.

Last year, Brazil stormed out of the gate at the World Cup in China, beating New Zealand, Greece and Montenegro, but their title hopes were extinguished when they slipped up against the Czech Republic and the United States in the Second Round.

"All I wanted to do when I started playing basketball was to represent my country," he said. "I started doing that when I was 17 years old...

"It means a lot to me, every time I put on that jersey. A lot comes into my mind. I always live that dream, every single time I play the game.

"Brazil, my country, deserves something special coming from basketball. It's something we should do, having so many players that were in the NBA. We deserve to have something for the country."

Barbosa has had other important things on his mind the past several months. Brazil is approaching the two million mark of  COVID-19 cases, the second biggest number in the world behind the United States and both he and his wife, Rocca, tested positive for the virus on March 21.

Rocca was expecting the couple's first child and was supposed to give birth a week later, but doctors decided to induce labor the following day. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Isabela.

"I watched from FaceTime because I was in quarantine," Barbosa said.

"After she delivered the baby, she couldn't be with the baby for 24 hours. It was kind of complicated. It's hard when you're a dad and you can't be there."

Thankfully Barbosa, Rocca, Isabela and his other two other daughters aged 11 and seven are healthy and do not have the virus.

"I recovered a couple of months ago," he said. "Only one night was really, really bad. I thought something worse could happen to me because I didn't have the power to fight with that virus. I'm happy that my driver was at the house, so he was able to talk to the doctors and to go to the pharmacy to get some medicine for me."

While Barbosa last season in the NBA was 2016–2017, his third spell with the Phoenix Suns, he still plays professionally in Brazil. He is now on the books of Minas, and it’s been frustrating not to play during the pandemic.

"It's been tough, basketball is what I do, it's my life, I love to play, and I've never been so many months without touching a ball," he said, "… also kind of sad to see what's been happening around the world. I hope it's finally done and everyone can come back to their lives and do what they do. It just stops everything. You can't go anywhere. You can't go have dinner with friends or your wife."

On the plus side, Barbosa has been at home with his family.

"Now I can be a daddy," he said. "For me, that's a positive that I can spend a lot of time with them. So it's been an unbelievable time."

Something else he's been able to do his indulge in his passion for cycling.

Barbosa has always loved getting on the bike, even as a rookie in the NBA with Phoenix when he cycled to practice.

"It was a little bit weird because when I got to the gate, each one of the players has his own place in the parking lot, with your name written on the wall,  he said, "so I was going down that ramp and there were all the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Mercedes and my bike.

"It was kind of funny, but it was kind of sad because of my third day of riding my bike to practice, the guys (team) didn't want me to ride my bike to practice so they gave me a car. They told me I couldn't show up at practice with the bike, so my history with the bike is big. I love riding."

Barbosa’s Instagram account is full of postings showing him on a bike. He goes for long rides and has even done so to raise money for charity.

"There was a couple of days ago I went one hundred and thirty miles, but that was over three days," he said. "In one day, I did 60 miles."

Barbosa rides on dirt roads that often turn into muddy tracks. It’s a tremendous workout.

"When you get used to it, it's kind of like playing basketball," he said. "It’s the same thing, just a different sport.

"When I'm tired, it's like playing basketball. I just keep going, I beat all of my opponents. That's the way I keep myself going. It's really hard, it's not easy, but I love to do that."

Barbosa is looking forward to getting back on the court and being a key man for Minas and also Brazil's national team.

He'll have the same approach that he's always had. He go hard to the basket.

"My brother used to teach me, 'Every time you get the ball, be aggressive and go to the basket. No one can stop you.'

"That’s how I got recognized. I remember (thinking) 'Get the ball, get buckets. Buckets win games."

How much longer will Barbosa play? He's not putting a time limit on his career.

"I still have juice, I still get buckets," he said. "(I'm) Not the Blur, but still a little blur. It's going to be a situation, when it's time, it's time."

 FIBA