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The Vaqueros de Bayamón is a professional basketball team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, actively participating in the National Superior Basketball League (BSN). Founded in 1930, the team has been a significant participant in the development of basketball in Puerto Rico. They stage their home games at the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum. As of 2023, the Vaqueros have secured a total of 16 BSN championships, the most in the League's history. The team also holds a league record for winning 29 games during their 1993 season. The Vaqueros de Bayamón's contributions to the BSN have been instrumental in Puerto Rico's representation in the global basketball scene.
Sports in Puerto Rico can be traced from the ceremonial competitions amongst the pre-Columbian Native Americans of the Arawak (Taíno) tribes who inhabited the island to the modern era in which sports activities consist of an organized physical activity or skill carried out with a recreational purpose for competition. One of the sports which the Taíno's played was a ball game called "Batey". The "Batey" was played in U-shaped fields two teams; however, unlike the ball games of the modern era, the winners were treated like heroes and the losers were sacrificed.
Raymond Dalmau Pérez is a retired Puerto Rican professional basketball player and coach. Dalmau played in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), the top tier basketball league in the country, for 20 seasons with the Piratas de Quebradillas. At the time of his retirement, at the end of the 1985 season, Dalmau was the BSN's all-time leader in points (11,592), rebounds (5,673) and assists (2,302).
The Puerto Rico national basketball team represents Puerto Rico in men's international basketball competitions, it is governed by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation, The team represents both FIBA and FIBA Americas.
Eddie Casiano Ojeda is a Puerto Rican former professional basketball player and is currently the head coach for Atléticos de San Germán. He also was the head coach of the Puerto Rican national team.
Mario Alberto Butler Graham is a Panamanian retired professional basketball player.
Enrique Figueroa Suárez, also known as "Quique Figueroa", is a Puerto Rican sailor. Figueroa is the only sailor of Puerto Rico to win four gold medals in the Central American-Caribbean Games. He has also competed at five Olympic Games, from 1988 to 2004 and in 2020. In 1999, Figueroa and his wife Carla Malatrasi won a gold medal in sailing in the Pan Am Hobie competition celebrated in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. On March 3, 2003 the Senate of Puerto Rico honored Enrique Figueroa and his wife Carla Malatrasi by recognizing their achievements.
Juan Evangelista Venegas was a Puerto Rican boxer notable for winning Puerto Rico's first Olympic medal.
Juan Ramón Rivas Contreras is a Puerto Rican retired professional basketball player, and sports color commentator. Rivas was the third player from Puerto Rico to play in the NBA, and half of the first duo of Puerto Ricans to be active in the NBA simultaneously. Rivas has played in the NBA, NCAA Division I, and in the Puerto Rican National Superior League (BSN), with the Carolina Giants.
Flor Meléndez Montañez is a Puerto Rican retired basketball player and current coach. He is a former head coach of Puerto Rico’s men’s national basketball team, Argentina men's national basketball team, and Panama men's national basketball team. Currently, he coaches in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional as an assistant coach for Gigantes de Carolina.
The Puerto Rico national baseball team, also known as Team Rubio is the national baseball team of Puerto Rico. The men's senior team is currently ranked 13th in the world. Puerto Rico is the incumbent Pan American and Central American/Caribbean champion, as well as the 2017 World Baseball Classic runner-up. The team competed against Israel, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Nicaragua in the 2023 World Baseball Classic in March 2023 in Miami, Florida.
After nine years of absence, the thirteenth edition of the Caribbean Series was revived in 1970 without the representing baseball clubs of Cuba and Panama. It was held in Caracas, Venezuela from February 5 to February 10 at Estadio Universitario, featuring the original members of the first stage. Puerto Rico was represented by the Leones de Ponce, while the host Navegantes del Magallanes represented Venezuela. The Dominican Republic debuted in the Series and was represented by the Tigres del Licey to complete a three-team tournament. The format consisted of 12 games, with each team facing the other competitors three times. Because the series was so small, each team had to face each other in one night.
Andrés Guillermo Rodríguez Fernández is a Puerto Rican professional basketball player, who last played for Atenienses de Manatí of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He was born in Puerto Rico, where he debuted as a professional basketball played for the Criollos de Caguas in 1999. Rodríguez attended University of Louisville and American University, completing his college education in 2004. Afterwards, he migrated to Europe, where he first played for Olimpija Ljubljana and had his best season by leading the Liga ACB in assists per game in 2013 with Obradoiro CAB. While concurrently playing in Puerto Rico, Rodríguez won three BSN championships for two different teams. Internationally, he is a member of the Puerto Rico national basketball team.
Orlando Meléndez Gilbert, a.k.a. "El Gato", is a Puerto Rican basketball player. He is the first Puerto Rico-born basketball player to play for the Harlem Globetrotters.
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Manuel "Manolo" Cintrón Vega is a former Puerto Rican professional basketball player, who for 11 seasons in the 1980s and early 1990s played with several teams in the National Basketball League in Puerto Rico., including the Atléticos de San Germán, the Leones de Ponce and the Gigantes de Carolina.
Roberto "Bobby" Ríos Osorio is a retired Puerto Rican basketball player. Ríos played as a point guard and shooting guard for five different teams during his career, and won three championships. He is currently 5th in assists and 7th in scoring of all-time in the league.
Linked to the popularity of basketball in Puerto Rico, the recurrence of streetball has become intertwined with the practice of the sport in all of its levels. Taking influence from the grassroots connection of Nuyorican streetballers to the Baloncesto Superior Nacional, the practice is widespread in Puerto Rico, with impromptu games being a highly common occurrence for decades. Organized streetball gained momentum in the early 2000s and soon became involved with the local urban culture, especially the hip hop and reggaeton industries, giving origin to teams like Puerto Rico Streetball and the Puerto Rico Streetballers. Organizations based in Puerto Rico have played against foreign competition, with the results including the first win of an international team over the prominent AND1 Live Tour Team. Teams native to the archipelago are affiliated to the Street Basketball Association and FIBA's 3x3 basketball program.
The Argentina national basketball team represents Argentina in basketball international competitions, and is controlled by the Argentine Basketball Federation.. The national team was formed in 1921, playing its first game v. Uruguay that same year.
References
- ↑ "puertorico-herald.org". www.puertorico-herald.org.
- ↑ "Dirigir rejuvenece a Julio Toro". 6 March 2016.
- ↑ Paese, Gabrielle. "Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rico Show Team USA How It's Done". www.puertorico-herald.org. Archived from the original on August 5, 2011.
- ↑ "Julio Toro y Flor Meléndez en medio del lío de Venezuela". 20 February 2014.
- ↑ "Muere hijo de Julio Toro". 8 October 2015.