Rubén Rodríguez (basketball)

Rubén Rodríguez (born August 5, 1953)[1] is a Puerto Rican former basketball player. Born in New York City, he played 23 seasons in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) tournament.

Rubén Rodríguez

Personal information
Born	(1953-08-05) August 5, 1953 New York City, New York
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Listed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
College	LIU Brooklyn (1972–1975)
NBA draft	1975: undrafted
Playing career	1969–1991
Position	Power forward / center
Career history
1969–1991	Vaqueros de Bayamón
Career statistics
Points	11,549 (18.3 ppg)
Rebounds	6,178 (9.8 rpg)
Assists	1,078 (1.7 apg)
Medals Men's basketball Representing  Puerto Rico Pan American Games 1979 San Juan Team

Many people consider either him to be, along with José Ortíz, Raymond Dalmau, Juan Vicens, Rafael Valle, Georgie Torres or Mario Morales, the greatest or one of the greatest basketball players in Puerto Rico's national tournament's history. He was one of only five players (Morales, Dalmau, Georgie Torres and Mario Butler being the other four) to reach 10,000 or more points during his BSN career, and for a long time, was the second best scorer ever behind Dalmau.

Rodríguez spent his whole career with the Vaqueros de Bayamon of Bayamón. With the Vaqueros, he won 8 national championships, in 1969, five in a row from 1971 to 1975, one in 1981 and one in 1988, the year that the team inaugurated his actual venue, that carries his name, the Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum. He also garnered the MVP award in 1979, and, once the three-point shot was established for the first time in the Puerto Rican tournament during the 1980 season, he started making shots from behind the three-point line too.

Rodríguez was a member of the Puerto Rican national basketball team, playing in many international tournaments such as the Olympic Games[1][2] and Pan American Games. Rodríguez for Team Puerto Rico played against Michael Jordan for Team USA, at the coliseum named after Rodríguez, in 1983.[3]

He retired from basketball in 1991. He tried several times to coach a basketball team in the Puerto Rico League, BSN, but without success. His most recent attempt was with the Bayamón team in 2002. He started the season 0-5 and was eventually fired. He is now a basketball analyst for several radio shows in Puerto Rico.