SOUTH BRONX, NY — I was at Yankee Stadium yesterday and wanted to see if Boston Red Sox Manager Alex Cora knew anything about another sports topic that every full-blooded Boricua from the island and many here in the states were following. I asked him if he knew about Puerto Rico’s standing in the FIBA World Olympic Cup tournament in Puerto Rico. Cora did not hesitate and said, “tonight they play Lithuania.” That meant that though the crafty Red Sox manager was planning this entire weekend on beating the Yankees, he must have also spent some time following up on Puerto Rico’s national basketball teams game in the tournament.
Julio & Red Sox manager Alex Cora, one of six active Latino MLB managers – Image Credit: Julio Cesar Chino Perez
I proved my point, which was I wanted to see if other Puerto Ricans were following these important games that for some reason were not getting any play on the corporate news, or sports channels.
As such, Puerto Rico reached the finals by defeating Bahrain, Italy and Mexico. That set the stage for the other powerful team, Lithuania who was ranked 10th in the FIBA world rankings. The game was set for 6 PM, so as much as I would have wanted to remain at the stadium to see the outcome of the rubber match between the Yankees and the Red Sox I had to leave to watch this final Puerto Rico game. The winner of this final game would be headed to the Paris Olympic. The last time that Puerto Rico’s National Team made it to the Olympics was 20 years ago. So, you could imagine the euphoria in Puerto Rico when they defeated Lithuania by a score of 79-68.
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico defeats 🇱🇹 Lithuania, the 10th ranked FIBA basketball team, to advance to the Paris Olympics! 🏀🏅#PuertoRico #FIBA #LatinoSports pic.twitter.com/kRIdRoilIH
— Latino Sports (@LatinoSports) July 8, 2024
Read the following article from FIBA for the details of the game: Puerto Rico going to Olympics.
Another Great Achievement: Congratulations to the Puerto Rican National Women’s Basketball team who had also qualified weeks earlier and they too will be heading to the Paris Olympics. Puerto Rico’s both Female & Male National Basketball teams made it to the Olympics, now that history in the making.
Both Women’s and Male PR National teams heading to 2024 Paris Olympics.
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