Basketball in mourning, Jose Ortiz has died

José “Piculín” Ortiz, one of FIBA basketball’s most iconic players and considered an absolute master of the backboard shot, has died at the age of 62 from colorectal cancer he had been battling for some time. The Puerto Rican Federation confirmed the sad news through its official channels. The legendary center from Puerto Rico, a symbol of his national team for more than two decades, had played four editions of the Olympic Games: Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004 (on the latter occasion he also faced Italy).

Ortiz had been hospitalized since May 1 at San Juan Hospital, where his wife Sylvia Rios, daughter Neira and his closest family members were close to him until his final moments.

The nickname “Piculín,” received as a child for his extremely lively nature, accompanied Ortiz in a career that made him one of the best long players on the world stage in the second half of the 1980s. After two seasons at Oregon State, closed with almost 20 points and 10 rebounds average, he was chosen with the number 15 pick in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. Before coming to the league, however, he had an excellent year in the ACB with CAI Zaragoza, one of the few teams then capable of contending with Real Madrid and Barcelona.

His NBA experience lasted two seasons (1988-1990), with a marginal role in the Jazz’s rotation, after which he decided to return to Spain. He played one year at Real Madrid and then at Barcelona, with whom he won a King’s Cup and reached the 1991 Champions Cup final, lost to Toni Kukoc’s Jugoplastika. He also wore the jerseys of Festina Andorra and Unicaja Malaga, totaling 177 appearances in the Spanish top league.

After his ACB adventure ended, Ortiz continued his career in Greece with Gymnastikos Larissas, Iraklis Crete and Aris Thessaloniki, winning the Korac Cup with the latter. It was in Greece, however, that Ortiz experienced personal issues that gradually removed him from basketball for several years. Recovering albeit with not a few difficulties, he returned to the world of basketball and became director of an academy dedicated to basketball training in Puerto Rico.

José “Piculín” Ortiz was later inducted, in 2019, into the FIBA Basketball Hall of Fame: he leaves behind an immense sporting legacy and a complex human story, marked by falls and rises.