Neftalí Rivera Oliveras (November 3, 1948 – December 23, 2017) was a Puerto Rican

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 who competed in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

and in the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

. He holds the record for most points in a game 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 ...

when he scored 79 points on May 22, 1974. In that game he achieved the record by making 34 field goals (all of them 2-pointers as the 3-pointers were not adopted back then) and 11 free throws. He died on December 23, 2017, at Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in

Hato Rey, Puerto Rico Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. It now stretches over three Barrios of Puerto Rico, barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San J ...

, due to respiratory problems.

Career

Rivera played for 15 seasons in the BSN. He made his debut in 1969 with the

Piratas de Quebradillas The Piratas de Quebradillas is a Puerto Rican basketball team, part of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional league. Founded in the mid 1920s, it is one of the original teams of the league. The club enjoyed its most successful era during the 1970s, ...

and retired in 1983 with the Leones de Ponce. His first 13 seasons were spent with the Piratas, where he won four championships in the seasons of 1970, 1977, 1978, and 1979. Since his debut Rivera was an impact player in the BSN league. As a rookie in the BSN he averaged 22.3 points to be the league's scoring champion and that same season he won the Rookie of the Year award. In the 1973 season he was once again the league's scoring champion with an average of 25.2 points and was the first player to surpass 800 points in a season. His achievements in 1973 included winning the BSN Most Valuable Player award. On May 22, 1974, he established the record for most points scored in a game in the BSN league when he scored 79 in the victory of the Piratas over the Taínos de Mayagüez with a score of 153–82. In the same game he also set new league records by scoring 34 field baskets in the game, getting 52 points in the second half, and scoring 25 field baskets in that second half. His teammate

Raymond Dalmau Raymond Dalmau Pérez (born October 27, 1948) is a retired Puerto Rican professional basketball player and coach. Dalmau played in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN), the top tier basketball league in the country, for 20 seasons with the Pir ...

scored 30 points in that same game, thus they combined for 109 points, breaking the record for most points by team duo in the league. Rivera became part of the national team in 1969, the same year he debuted in the BSN league. His first tournament with the team was at the Centrobasket in 1969 where he was the second best scorer of the tournament with an average of 20.5 points and was the leader of basket scored with 72. In that tournament, held in Cuba, the Puerto Rican squad won the bronze medal. During his career in the national team, he participated in three Central American Games (1970, 1974 and 1978), two Pan American Games (1971 and 1975), two Olympic Games (1972 and 1976), two FIBA World Championships (1974 and 1978), and one FIBA Championship Americas which was held in 1980 in San Juan.

References

External links

Statistics
in BSN
Statistics
in BSN from WorldHoopsStats.com
Gallery of Pictures of Puerto Rican players
at enciclopediapr.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Neftali 1948 births 2017 deaths Basketball players at the 1971 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1975 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Leones de Ponce basketball players Olympic basketball players for Puerto Rico Pan American Games silver medalists for Puerto Rico Pan American Games medalists in basketball People from Quebradillas, Puerto Rico Piratas de Quebradillas players Puerto Rican men's basketball players 1974 FIBA World Championship players 1978 FIBA World Championship players Shooting guards Medalists at the 1971 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games

Career

See also

References

External links