A dream week culminated the way everyone on the island dreamed of, with a 20-year Olympic drought ending for men’s basketball. It all came after a 79-68 victory over Lithuania gave Puerto Rico a win in the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament and the final Olympic spot.
“My 12 players, they’re the heroes. We made history tonight. We beat 2 of the most powerful teams in the world here on our island and in front of our people because we believed and we prepared ourselves for this moment,” Puerto Rico head coach Nelson Colon said.
In Paris, Puerto Rico will share Group C with the United States, Serbia, and South Sudan. The top two teams from each group, along with the top two third-place teams will advance to the quarterfinals.
New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado, who was named TISSOT MVP of the tournament, was an especially crucial figure for Puerto Rico during the game. He scored 23 points, with 6 rebounds and 2 steals.
“The game was amazing,” Alvarado said. “The atmosphere was great. This game was everything we worked for. For us, for the island, we knew it was more than basketball. We knew how great we had to be to represent this island. As a kid, I wasn’t born on the island so I’m learning so much about this game and the history that came with it. I’m just so happy to be a part of it. JJ (Barea), Carlos (Arroyo), and all those greats that were here created a path for us.”
The men’s team will be joining the women’s basketball team from Puerto Rico who qualified for the Paris Olympics back in February. This is their second time in history that they’ve qualified for the Olympics, with their first being at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“We came to this tournament to qualify for the Olympics and we knew from the beginning that this game had opportunities to win. This is big for Puerto Rico, a small island with just over three million inhabitants. We are far from those teams like China and France, but we are trying to improve for the future,” said Jerry Bastista, coach of Puerto Rico’s women’s basketball team according to Panam Sports.
The Olympic Opening Ceremony is set for Friday, July 26th. Puerto Rico’s opening match will be on July 28th against South Sudan.