RIO DE JANEIRO (Brazil) – Bruno Caboclo was named MVP following Sao Paulo FC’s thrilling 84-80 victory over Bigua in the Basketball Champions League Americas Season 3 Finals. The 6-foot-9 power forward from Brazil finished with 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, seven rebounds, three blocks and an efficiency rating of 31, the highest in the game for both clubs.

Caboclo’s second-half revelation for 11 points including 9 from the three-point line helped lead them to a comfortable 24-point lead going into the final 10 minutes of play, even when Bigua kept the intensity and tried to keep Caboclo at bay.

With help from Elio Corazza, Marquinhos Sousa and Corderro Bennet, Sao Paulo was able to jump out to a lead in the second quarter that they would maintain for the rest of the game, but it was Caboclo’s offensive efforts that kept them fighting until the finish as he finished with 18 points from the three-point line.

Caboclo was the second-leading scorer in all of Basketball Champions League Americas coming into this championship game, sitting behind only Bigua’s Donald Sims as he averaged 23.3 points per game playing in all 8 games leading up to the final.

Never scoring less than 14 points per game for Sao Paulo, Caboclo helped lead the team to their first BCL Americas title as one of the best two-way contributors in the competition, tallying a double-double on six different occasions including his massive 28-point, 12-rebound performance in the semi-final against Minas.

At just 26 years old, Caboclo has quickly become a leader for Sao Paulo in their journey to the BCL Americas title despite it being his first season with the team. A former first-round NBA draft pick of the Toronto Raptors, Caboclo played in 2020 with the Houston Rockets for six games before signing with France’s Limoges CSP.

After playing overseas, Caboclo arrived in Brazil, his home country, in August of 2021 signing with the Novo Basquete Brasil runners-up who fell to eventual BCL Americas Season 2 champions Flamengo during the 2020-2021 season, where Sao Paulo finished fourth.

The Sao Paulo native has six seasons of NBA experience under his belt, and while he was not prepared to be back home at this stage in his career, the young player’s ability to be an elite scorer, solid defender and unafraid to get physical in the paint, he was able to contribute to every single win of Sao Paulo’s undefeated BCL Americas run.

After Flamengo was eliminated in the direct knockout round, Caboclo took the opportunity to give a new team in Brazil the ability to be a champion, bringing not only his team, but his country pride as they were crowned champions on Brazilian soil.

FIBA