Rafael Rullán Ribera (8 January 1952 – 4 May 2025) was a Spanish professional basketball player. A talented center, whose versatility and range helped him to also play the

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

position, he was one of the stars of

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 ...

, throughout the 1970s and the 1980s.

Club career

Rullán was a major contributor to Real's three

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 ...

titles in 1974, 1978, and 1980, as well as their

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 ...

title in 1984. He had a memorable performance, with 27 points in the 1980

EuroLeague Final The EuroLeague Finals are the championship finals of the EuroLeague competition. The EuroLeague is the highest level tier, and most important professional club basketball competition in Europe. Real Madrid have won the European championship o ...

, against

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

. He won 14 Spanish League championships, and 9 Spanish King's Cup titles, in his 18 seasons with the club.

National team career

Rullán also shone with the senior

Spain men's national basketball team The Spain men's national basketball team () represents Spain in international basketball competitions. They are managed by the Spanish Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Spain. Spain is the current European champion. Sp ...

, playing in 161

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, and winning the silver medal at the

EuroBasket 1973 The 1973 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1973, was the eighteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues Group stage Group A – Badalona Group B – Barcelona Knocko ...

Death

Rullán died on 4 May 2025, at the age of 73.

References

External links

FIBA Profile

The Legend, Real Madrid: Rafael RullanReal Madrid Legend Profile

Spanish League Profile
1952 births 2025 deaths 1974 FIBA World Championship players 20th-century Spanish sportsmen Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics Centers (basketball) Liga ACB players Olympic basketball players for Spain Power forwards Real Madrid Baloncesto players Spanish men's basketball players Sportspeople from Palma de Mallorca {{Spain-basketball-bio-stub