Mãozinha Pereira | |
Position: | Power forward / center |
Height Ft: | 6 |
Height In: | 8 |
Weight Lb: | 177 |
Team: | Free agent |
Birth Date: | 28 August 2000 |
Birth Place: | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
Draft Year: | 2022 |
Career Start: | 2019 |
Years1: | 2019–2020 |
Team1: | Pinheiros Basquete |
Years2: | 2020–2021 |
Team2: | Crn Drim |
Years3: | 2021–2022 |
Team3: | Cearense |
Years4: | 2022–2023 |
Team4: | Corinthians |
Years5: | 2023–2024 |
Team5: | Capitanes de Ciudad de México |
Team6: | Memphis Grizzlies |
João Marcello Cardoso Pereira (born 28 August 2000),[1] commonly known as Mãozinha Pereira, or simply Mãozinha, is a Brazilian professional basketball player who last played for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Mãozinha began his career with Pinheiros of the Novo Basquete Brasil, where he played 4 games[2] before signing with Crn Drim of the Macedonian First League where he averaged 13.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.
On 12 August 2021, Mãozinha signed with Cearense of the Novo Basquete Brasil[3] where he averaged 13.5 points, 9.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.3 steals.
After going undrafted in the 2022 NBA draft, Mãozinha played the 2022–2023 season for Corinthians of the Novo Basquete Brasil,[4] where he averaged 11.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks.
On 30 October 2023, Mãozinha joined the Capitanes de Ciudad de México of the NBA G League[5] and on 12 January 2024, he scored a career-high 19 points along with 11 rebounds, 3 steals, and 3 blocks against the Wisconsin Herd.[6] On 31 January, he was selected for the G League dunk contest, finishing in third place.[7]
On 20 March 2024, Mãozinha signed a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies.[8] He had just over five minutes on the court and scored two points in his NBA debut, a 137–116 loss to the Golden State Warriors, becoming the 20th Brazilian to play in the NBA.[9] On 30 March, he signed a second 10-day contract with the Grizzlies.[10]
|-| style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis| 7 || 1 || 17.4 || .514 || .385 || .700 || 5.3 || .3 || .9 || .6 || 6.9|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 7 || 1 || 17.4 || .514 || .385 || .700 || 5.3 || .3 || .9 || .6 || 6.9
|-| style="text-align:left;"|2023–24| style="text-align:left;"|Mexico City| 24 || 6 || 20.1 || .609 || .313 || .676 || 7.2 || .9 || 1.2 || 1.0 || 8.8