The Brazil national basketball team is governed by the Brazilian Basketball Confederation (), abbreviated as CBB. They have been a member of the International Federation of Basketball (FIBA), since 1935. Brazil's national basketball team remains among the most successful in the Americas. It is the only team besides the United States, that has appeared at every FIBA Basketball World Cup, since it was first held in 1950. Throughout its history, the Brazilian national team has won two FIBA World Cup gold medals (1959 and 1963), three Summer Olympic Games bronze medals (in 1948, 1960 and 1964), four FIBA AmeriCup gold medals (1984, 1988, 2005 and 2009), and six Pan American Games gold medals (1971, 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015). History First steps Basketball was initially introduced to Brazil by Professor Augusto Shaw in 1896. In 1912, he began organizing the first state tournament and in 1922 the first national team made its debut at games against Argentina and Uruguay. As in the case of football, South America was initially ahead of the rest of the world and in 1930 held the first edition of the FIBA South American Championship. In that decade, Brazilian basketball was supported by professional football clubs, to include it as a new sports section, although amateur in nature. Later, these clubs became professional and supported the national team with world-class players. Initial success despite budget constraints In the following years, Brazil became a regular at major international competitions. Its basketball squad participated in the first official basketball tournament at the Summer Olympics 1936 in Berlin. In 1939, the first continental championship was held in Rio de Janeiro. In the 40s, basketball was catching on more layers of society and left the elitist stigma. The sport received the ultimate accolade at the 1948 Olympic Games in London. There, against all odds, the team directed by Moacyr Daiuto (1915–1994) managed to achieve the bronze medal. The team recorded six straight wins until it stopped due to the semi-final defeat to France (33–43). In the bronze medal match, Brazil beat Mexico (52–47). They managed to feature ten amateur players. The pre-Olympic Brazil concentration was very poor in resources. After its time-consuming journey to London, the team was astonishment when they saw how the U.S. team practiced: each player with a ball. Brazil only had two for the whole team. The Kanela era One of the fundamental pillars of