Juan Antonio Corbalán Alfocea (born August 3, 1954) is a Spanish retired professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. The 6 ft. in. (1.84 m) tall. Corbalán was one of the best European point guards of the 1980s. He represented his native country in three Summer Olympic Games (

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, 1980, and

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

). He was named one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

in 1991. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors.

Club career

Real Madrid

Corbalán spent most of his

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

career playing in the top-level Spanish League. He played with Real Madrid, from 1971–72, until 1987–88. With Real Madrid, he won 12 Spanish League championships, winning 9 of them in the LEB Primera División (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, and 1982), and 3 of them in the Liga ACB (1984, 1985, 1986). He also won 7 Spanish Cups, 3 FIBA European Champions Cups ( EuroLeague), one

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA ...

(

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

), one

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the third-tier level club competition in European basketball, after the FIBA European Champions' Cup (later renamed th ...

, and 4

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, also commonly referred to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs, or the FIBA Club World Cup, is a professional basketball clubs competition that is endorsed by FIBA and the NBA. Historically, its purpose has b ...

National team career

Corbalán was named the Most Valuable Player of the

EuroBasket 1983 The 1983 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1983, was the 23rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 26 May to 4 June 1983 in France. Italy defeated Spain in the final ...

, after leading

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

to the final against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, which was eventually lost, though. He also won the silver medal with the senior Spanish national team at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games.

References

External links

Euroleague.net profileLeyendasNaloncestoRealMadrid.es

Spanish Olympic Committee
1954 births Living people Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1980 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics CB Valladolid players Liga ACB players Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic basketball players of Spain Olympic medalists in basketball Olympic silver medalists for Spain Point guards Real Madrid Baloncesto players Spanish men's basketball players 1974 FIBA World Championship players 1982 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players from Madrid {{Spain-Olympic-medalist-stub