Omar Walcott

Omar Alejandro Walcott Roberts was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 24 July 1965. A tall and powerfully built player who grew to 2.03 metres, he moved to the United States to play college basketball for the Saint Peter's Peacocks in Jersey City, New Jersey, from 1984 to 1988.

Walcott turned professional in 1988 with the Jersey Shore Bucs and then played in Portugal for Ovarense, with a brief spell for the New York Whitecaps in 1990. In 1991 he joined Marinos de Oriente in the Venezuelan Liga Profesional de Baloncesto and won the championship in his first season.

He became the defining figure of the club, now known as Marinos de Anzoátegui. Over eight seasons between 1991 and 1998, interrupted by returns to Ovarense and a short stint with Saski Baskonia in Spain in 1994, he played 314 games in the number 24 shirt, averaging 14.04 points, 9.11 rebounds and 3.53 assists. Marinos won further titles in 1993 and 1998, both with Walcott as captain. He played in Greece for AE Larisa in 1997 and 1998.

Walcott was selected for the LPB All Star Game four times, in 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000, and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1997. In the later part of his career he played for Cocodrilos de Caracas, Guaiqueríes de Margarita, Delfines de Miranda and finally Gaiteros del Zulia, where he retired in 2009.

Internationally he belonged to Venezuela's golden generation. He was part of the team that won the 1991 South American Championship, the country's first, and was one of the twelve players at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Venezuela's first Olympic basketball tournament, where he played seven games and averaged 9.0 points and 4.7 rebounds. Coach James Calvin recalled him for the 2001 South American Championship in Valdivia and the 2001 pre World Cup tournament in Neuquén, his last appearances for the national team.

Walcott maintained close ties with the United States after his college years and in later life was based in New Jersey. Fans in eastern Venezuela remembered him by his nickname, el amo y señor de los tableros, and in 2019 Marinos de Anzoátegui retired his number 24 in his honour.

In August 2026 Walcott confirmed that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and was receiving treatment, including chemotherapy, at a hospital in New Jersey, and he asked the basketball community for help with the cost. He died on Saturday 14 November 2026, aged 61, of small cell lung cancer. Marinos de Anzoátegui announced his death on social media, joining what it called the grief of the basketball family for the loss of a legend of Venezuelan professional basketball.

Walcott is remembered as one of the pillars of Venezuelan basketball's golden era: a three time champion and captain with Marinos, the owner of the club's eternal number 24 and a member of the side that took Venezuela to its first Olympic basketball tournament. Former Marinos owner Domingo Cirigliano described him as a fundamental pillar of the club's first three titles.