Versión español

Piculín Ortiz

José Ortiz is a star Puerto Rican basketball player best known as "Piculín" Ortiz. He has played in various local and international basketball leagues, including the National Superior Basketball League in Puerto Rico, the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States, the Association of Basketball Clubs of Spain and the Greek Basketball League. He is considered one of the best centers in the history of Puerto Rican basketball.

Piculín was born in Aibonito in 1963. In 1981, he began playing in the Puerto Rico National Superior Basketball League with the San Germán Atléticos. He remained with that team until 1984. In 1985, played for the Oregon State University Beavers in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the university league in the United States. In 1987, he moved to Spain to play for one season with the CAI Zaragoza team.

From 1988 to 1990, he was a member of the Utah Jazz in the NBA in the United States. He then returned to Europe where he played for various teams: Real Madrid (1990), FC Barcelona (1990-1992), Festina Andorra (1992-1993) and CB Málaga (1993-1994).

He later returned to play for the San Germán Atléticos (1994, 1995 and 1996) and the Cayey Toritos (1994-1995). During this time, he also played in the Greek league with Iraklio BC (1995-1996) and Aris Thessalonki (1996-1997, 1997-1998). He also played for the Margarita Guayaquiries in Venezuela in 1997. From 1998 to 2006, he was a member of the Santurce Cangrejeros, winning five championships with that team. In 2006, while playing for the Arecibo Capitanes, he retired from professional basketball after suffering an injury.

As a member of the Puerto Rico national team, he has participated in many international competitions, such as the Pan-American Games of 1983, 1987, 1991 and 1995, and the Olympics in 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2004.


References

Portal Baloncesto Superior Nacional de Puerto Rico