Orlando Vega Smith (born June 16, 1968) is a retired

basketball player 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 ...

from

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 ...

High School Basketball

A 6' 4"

Shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

Small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger t ...

, Vega played for Oak Hill Academy, finishing the 1987–88 season with an average of 30.6 ppg, the highest single season scoring average in school history. Vega's highlights during that season included scoring 48 points against

New Hampton School New Hampton School is an independent college preparatory high school in New Hampton, New Hampshire, United States. It has 305 students from over 30 states and 22 countries. The average class size is eleven, and the student-faculty ratio is five t ...

. For his performance that year, Vega was named the school's

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. Also, during the 1988

Dapper Dan Roundball Classic The Roundball Classic, originally known as The Dapper Dan Roundball Classic (also known as '' Magic Johnson's Roundball'', ''Sonny Vaccaro's Roundball Classic'', ''EA Sports Roundball Classic'', '' Asics Roundball Classic'') is well known in the spo ...

, one of the nation's premier showcases for high school basketball talent, Vega earned the

trophy, beating out teammates, and future notable

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

players

Alonzo Mourning Alonzo Harding Mourning Jr. (born February 8, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who has served as vice president of player programs and development for the Miami Heat since June 2009. Mourning played most of his 15-year ...

, Chris Jackson,

Billy Owens Billy Eugene Owens (born May 1, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Syracuse, where he was an All-American and th ...

and

Shawn Kemp Shawn may refer to: *Shawn (given name) *Shawn (surname) See also * Sean * Shaun Shaun is an anglicized spelling of the Irish name Seán. Alternative spellings include Shawn, Sean and Shawne. Notable persons with the given name include: Peop ...

. The opposing squad featured

LaPhonso Ellis LaPhonso Darnell Ellis (born May 5, 1970) is an American retired basketball player. He was selected by the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets as the fifth overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. Early career He was an outstanding high ...

and

Anthony Peeler Anthony Eugene Peeler (born November 25, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player, having played for a number of NBA teams from 1992 to 2005. He was most commonly known for his defense and athleticism. He later became an assista ...

. After the 1987–88 season, Vega was recruited by

The University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. Th ...

and later transferred to

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

but never played. Instead, he returned to

and became a star on the island's professional circuit.

National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico

In 1988 he made his debut on the

National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico 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 Nacio ...

(BSN), playing for the

Quebradillas Pirates The Piratas de Quebradillas is a Puerto Rico, 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 ...

. Vega quickly became an impact player, completing his rookie season with a respectable average of 18.7 ppg. Two seasons later, during the 1990 tournament he led the league in scoring, averaging 29.9 ppg along with 8.3 rpg while shooting 40% from three-point range. He played a total of 18 seasons in Puerto Rico with the

, Caguas Creoles, Ponce Lions, Isabela Fighting Cocks, and the

Arecibo Captains The Capitanes de Arecibo are a Puerto Rican professional basketball team based in Arecibo that competes in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional (BSN) league. In 2010, the team also had the distinction to play in the Premier Basketball League (PBL) u ...

, finishing with career averages of 19.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg and a 36% effectiveness in 3pt field goal attempts. Vega signed a free-agent contract with the

L.A. Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

during the 1994 preseason, but did not make the roster.

International career

He played in the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

and 1998 FIBA World Basketball Championship. He was also a member of the gold winning

Puerto Rican National Basketball Team The Puerto Rico national basketball team ( es, Selección de Baloncesto de Puerto Rico) represents Puerto Rico in men's international basketball competitions, it is governed by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation ( es, link=no, Federación de ...

at the

1994 Goodwill Games The 1994 Goodwill Games was the third edition of the multi-sport event, created by Ted Turner, which was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia between July 23 and August 7, 1994. The event – designed to improve Soviet Union – United States relatio ...

held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Vega won the bronze medal at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

while also playing in the

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

and

1998 Central American and Caribbean Games 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

(where the team won the gold medal) and 1999 FIBA Americas Championship, and in the

and

. Vega has played professionally in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA),

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

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 ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

and in Spain's

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

, where he joined Caja Cantabria during the 1998 season, averaging 18.4 ppg."ESTADÍSTICAS JUGADOR" (in Spanish). VICOM. 2007. Baloncesto Superior Nacional. Retrieved 24 July 2011 from http://www.bsnpr.com/jugadores/jugador.asp?id=1759&e=

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Orlando 1968 births Living people Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Basketball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1999 Pan American Games Leones de Ponce basketball players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Puerto Rican men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Puerto Rico men's national basketball team players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Pan American Games bronze medalists for Puerto Rico Pan American Games medalists in basketball Piratas de Quebradillas players Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico 1998 FIBA World Championship players Competitors at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games Small forwards Shooting guards Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Criollos de Caguas basketball players 1994 FIBA World Championship players