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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. The 6 ft. in. (1.84 m) tall. Corbalán was one of the best European

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...

s of the 1980s. He represented his native country in three

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The 1896 Summer Olympics, inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, ...

(

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 Solar time, ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, 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 in 1991 and selected a record 7 times for the FIBA All-Star Games. In 2008, he was named one of the

50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors The 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors (2008) of FIBA European Champions Cup and EuroLeague history were awarded and chosen on February 3, 2008, in Madrid, Spain. The occasion was the fiftieth anniversary since the founding of the inaugural s ...

Club career

Real Madrid

Corbalán spent most of his club career playing in the top-level Spanish League. He played with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

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

(1984, 1985, 1986). He also won 7 Spanish Cups, 3 FIBA European Champions Cups (

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

), one

FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the European professional club basketball system, second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winn ...

(

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners 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 eac ...

), one

FIBA Korać Cup The FIBA Korać Cup was an annual basketball club competition held by FIBA Europe between the 1971–72 and 2001–02 seasons. It was the European professional club basketball system, third-tier level club competition in European basketball, a ...

, and 4

FIBA Intercontinental Cup The FIBA Intercontinental Cup, previously known to as the FIBA World Cup for Champion Clubs and the FIBA Club World Cup, is an annual international men's basketball competition organised by FIBA, the sport's global governing body. The competit ...

National team career

Corbalán was named the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (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 particular competition, or ...

of the EuroBasket 1983, after leading

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to the final against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, 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 for 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 20th-century Spanish sportsmen {{Spain-Olympic-medalist-stub