Playing for Argentina rejuvenates Oberto

The tests Oberto underwent in San Antonio produced good results. He headed home to Cordoba, Argentina, determined to get himself in condition for the tournament and wait for additional heart tests before the national team’s training camp was to begin in mid-July.

Argentina's Fabricio Oberto shoots over Canada's Kelly Olynyk during Monday's game in Mar del Plata, Argentina. (Martin Mejia/Associated Press)

Doctors in Argentina gave the go-ahead in late June, and Oberto celebrated the good news with his longtime teammates.

“Nobody will work harder than Fabri to get into the best physical condition,” Ginobili said then. “We all know how hard he will work, and I am thrilled to play with him again and pumped to again play together — a month-and-a-half to be with him and all my other friends on the team.”

(...)Just a week ahead of the tournament, Oberto suffered another medical setback. A ruptured muscle in his left hand threatened his participation in the tournament.

Argentine coach Julio Lamas assured Oberto the injury would not cost him his spot on the team. If he had to miss the first round of the competition, the team would wait for him, Lamas said.

Oberto’s response was thrice-daily sessions with the team’s physiotherapist to speed his return to playing status.

One of the most popular players in Argentine basketball history, Oberto suited up for the first game of the tournament. During pregame introductions, the ovation he received equaled those for both Ginobili and Scola, the team’s biggest stars.

“It was amazing,” he said. “My legs were shaking when they cheered my name. I’m really thankful for how they treated me, and I will try to give all that love back inside the court.”

Finally, before Game 2 of the tournament, against Uruguay, Oberto got the news he had hoped to hear: Team doctors and athletic trainers again had cleared him for action.

“I think I will play only five minutes,” he said before that game, “but I will be happy just to be on the court.”

Instead, Oberto played 16 minutes against Uruguay, and in typical fashion: making slick interior passes to his teammates; playing smart, tough defense; and going hard after every rebound and loose ball.

“I returned to life,” he told Argentine reporters after that game.

“I passed through tough days, but I had the perseverance to go on working with the team doctor and kinesiologist, and I made it.”