Amaury Apolinar Filion Fernández (born August 1, 1981) is a Dominican former professional basketball player. A left-handed

forward-center Forward–center or bigman is a basketball position for players who play or have played both forward and center on a consistent basis. Typically, this means power forward and center, since these are usually the two biggest player positions on ...

, Filion debuted in 1997 with Mauricio Báez, a club of

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

. He then moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, where he played at Artesia High School in

Lakewood, California Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on the east, ...

before going back to the Dominican Republic. Throughout his 20-year professional career, Filion has played in the Dominican Republic,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

; in 2007 he was named the LIDOBA Finals MVP. A long-time member of the Dominican national team, he won the silver medal at the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America. Al ...

and the gold medal at the 2004 Centrobasket.

High school career

Filion moved to the United States in 1998, and enrolled at Artesia High School in

; at the time, he was known as Apolinar Fernández, i.e. with his

middle name In various cultures, a middle name is a portion of a personal name that is written between the person's first given name and their surname. A middle name is often abbreviated and is then called middle initial or just initial. A person may be ...

and his mother's surname, which were part of his full name in accordance to the

naming customs of Hispanic America The naming customs of Hispanic America are similar to the Spanish naming customs practiced in Spain, with some modifications to the surname rules. Many Hispanophones in the countries of Hispanic America have two given names, plus like in Spain, ...

. Filion was highly recruited in high school, and he participated in the 1999 ABCD Camp, where he was named the Underclassmen co-MVP together with T. J. Ford. In 2000, he was named the

CIF Cif is a French brand of household cleaning products owned by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif was launched in France in 1965 and was marketed in competit ...

Division II co-Player of the Year together with Marques Crane of

Ocean View High School Ocean View High School (OVHS) is a public comprehensive college-prep academy located in Huntington Beach, California. OVHS was established in 1976; their mascot is the Seahawks. Currently, there are approximately 1,470 enrolled students. It is par ...

. While in high school he played alongside

Jason Kapono Jason Alan Kapono (born February 4, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He was the first National Basketball Association (NBA) player to lead the league in three-point field goal percentage in two consecutive seasons, and ...

and fellow Dominican Jack Michael Martínez. In early 2000, it was reported that Filion, together with teammates Martínez and Jon Steffenson, were to leave Artesia due to issues with their immigration documents submitted to the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Artesia was put under investigation. Filion ended up going back to the Dominican Republic, where he signed with Mauricio Báez, a local professional team.

Professional career

Filion had started his career in 1997 with Mauricio Báez, a club of

which participated in the Baloncesto Superior del Distrito Nacional, the basketball league for clubs of the

Distrito Nacional The Distrito Nacional (; D.N.) is a subdivision of the Dominican Republic enclosing the capital Santo Domingo. It is not in any of the provinces, but in practice, it acts as a province on its own. Before October 16, 2001, the Distrito Nacional was ...

. From 1998 to early 2000, he was in the United States with Artesia High School; he then returned to the Dominican Republic and played again for Mauricio Báez, winning the Distrito Nacional league title. In 2001 and 2002 he played for Cupes de Los Pepines, a club of the Baloncesto Superior de Santiago, the local league for teams of the

Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros (; '' en, Saint James of the Knights''), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the capital of Santiago Prov ...

area; in 2002 he also played with

Metros de Santiago Metros de Santiago is a professional basketball team based in Santiago de los Caballeros, Santiago, Dominican Republic. The team currently plays in the Dominican top division Liga Nacional de Baloncesto. Championships Liga Nacional de Baloncesto ...

, and was named one of the league's best players. In 2003 he initially played with Cupes de Los Pepines, and then moved to

, signing for

Gallitos de Isabela Gallitos de Isabela is a professional basketball team based in Isabela, Puerto Rico. They play their home games at the José Abreu Coliseum. History In 1984, the Gallitos reached the BSN Finals, during that year known, due to a scandal concerni ...

: in the 2003 season he appeared in 19 games and averaged 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in the

Baloncesto Superior Nacional The Baloncesto Superior Nacional, abbreviated as BSN, is the first-tier-level professional men's basketball league in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1929 and is organized by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation. The Baloncesto Superior Naci ...

. In late 2003 he signed for

JA Vichy Jeanne d'Arc de Vichy-Clermont Métropole was a professional basketball club based in Vichy, France. The club played their home games at both Maison des Sports de Clermont-Ferrand and Palais des Sports de Vichy. In 2015, JA Vichy and Stade Clermo ...

of the LNB Pro A, the top level of basketball in

: he played 8 games (5 starts), averaging 8.4 points, 5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 23.5 minutes of playing time. In 2004 he went back to Puerto Rico and signed with Criollos de Caguas, another BSN team, and averaged 11.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 18 games. In 2005 he played for Sameji in the Baloncesto Superior de Santiago, winning the league title and being named in the All-Star team; he scored 23 points in the 7th and final game of the championship series against Club Domingo Paulino. He later played with

in the first edition of the LIDOBA, the Dominican national basketball league, and averaged 15.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.6 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. In 2006 he played the first part of the season with Sameji, and repeated as Baloncesto Superior de Santiago league champion; he then played in the LIDOBA with Metros de Santiago. In 2007 he played for Don Bosco of the Asociación de Baloncesto de Espaillat (ASOBAE), and then for

Guaiqueríes de Margarita Guaiqueríes de Margarita is a professional basketball team based in La Asunción, Venezuela. The team currently plays in Venezuela's Liga Profesional de Baloncesto. The team has won the Venezuelan championships nine times. Current rosters LPB ...

in the

Liga Profesional de Baloncesto The Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto, commonly known as the SPB, is the Venezuelan first division national professional basketball league. Founded in 1974 as the Liga Especial de Baloncesto, it adopted the name Liga Profesional de Baloncesto i ...

(LPB), winning the league title. In 2008 he played for San Sebastián in the ASOBAE, and then moved to

where he played in the

Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol The Liga Uruguaya de Básquetbol (abbreviated as LUB; English: ''Uruguayan Basketball League'') is the most important professional club basketball league in Uruguay. It is organized by the Uruguayan Basketball Federation (FUBB). The Uruguayan Ba ...

(LUB) with Bohemios. In 2009 he spent the season with San Martín de Porres in

San Francisco de Macorís San Francisco de Macorís is a city in the Dominican Republic located in the northeast portion of the island, in the Cibao region. It is the capital of the Duarte Province, and the sixth most populated city in the country. The name ''San Fran ...

, Don Bosco in the ASOBAE, and Sameji in the Baloncesto Superior de Santiago. In 2010 he played for Huellas del Siglo, and was league champion in the Distrito Nacional. He also played with Metros de Santiago, later in 2010. In 2011 he spent part of the season with San Sebastián, before going back to Metros de Santiago. In 2012 he returned to Venezuela, signing again for Guaiqueríes de Margarita. In 2013 he played for

Indios de San Francisco de Macorís Indios de San Francisco de Macorís is a professional basketball team based in San Francisco de Macorís, Duarte, Dominican Republic. The team currently plays in the Dominican top division Liga Nacional de Baloncesto. Current roster ...

, and in 2014 he played for Club José Horacio Rodríguez in the ASOBAE. He then played for Sameji in the Baloncesto Superior de Santiago; in 2016, he participated in the 2016 FIBA Americas League with Metros de Santiago. He ended his career in 2017 with Metros de Santiago.

National team career

Filion debuted with the Dominican national team at youth level, and was one of the best players of his team during the 2001

FIBA Under-21 World Championship The FIBA Under-21 World Championship was a men's under-21-only basketball competition organized by the International Basketball Federation The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organization ...

in Saitama, Japan: he averaged 15.1 points, 3 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. The Dominican Republic Under-21 team ended the tournament in 4th place. He then made his debut with the senior national team in 2003 and played during the

2003 Centrobasket This page shows the results of the Men's Central American and Caribbean Basketball Championship, also known as the 2003 Centrobasket, which was held in the city of Culiacán, Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican St ...

, averaging 7 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, winning the silver medal. Filion was then called up with the national team for the

in early August; during the competition he averaged 12.1 points, 4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, and the Dominican Republic won the silver medal. Later that month, Filion participated with his team in the

2003 Tournament of the Americas The 2003 Tournament of the Americas in basketball, later known as the FIBA Americas Championship and the FIBA AmeriCup (also known as Las Americas Tournament for Men, FIBA Americas Olympic Qualifying Tournament, or Panamerican Olympic Qualifying T ...

, where he had an 18-point, 6-rebound performance against the

, and a 15-point performance against

. Filion took part in the 2004 Centrobasket averaging 12.6 points, 6 rebounds and 2.6 assists; he won the gold medal in the tournament. In 2005 he was part of the Dominican squad at the

2005 FIBA Americas Championship The 2005 FIBA Americas Championship, later known as the FIBA AmeriCup (also known as The Tournament of the Americas), was hosted by the Dominican Republic, from August 24, to September 4, 2005. The games were played in Santo Domingo. This FIBA Amer ...

, where he found limited playing time and averaged 3.9 points and 1.9 rebounds per game. He then appeared in the

2006 Centrobasket The 2006 Men's Central American and Caribbean Basketball Championship, also known as 2006 Centrobasket, was hosted in Panama City, Panama. The ATLAPA Convention Center in Panama City served as the venue for all the games. Four teams qualified ...

, posting averages of 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds. In 2010 he again appeared during the

Centrobasket The Centrobasket is a FIBA-sponsored international basketball tournament where national teams from Central America and the Caribbean participate. These countries make up the Central American and Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CONCENCABA). Th ...

. In 2014 he was called up for the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...

, where he averaged 1 point and 0.5 rebounds per game.

References

External links

Career stats at ProBallers.comBaloncesto Superior Nacional stats at BSNPR.comDominican league stats at Sportstg.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filion, Amaury 1981 births Living people Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Basketball players at the 2003 Pan American Games Centers (basketball) Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in France Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in Puerto Rico Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in the United States Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in Uruguay Dominican Republic expatriate basketball people in Venezuela Dominican Republic men's basketball players Guaiqueríes de Margarita players JA Vichy players Pan American Games silver medalists for the Dominican Republic Pan American Games medalists in basketball Power forwards (basketball) Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games Criollos de Caguas basketball players Artesia High School (California) alumni