BSN
The National Superior Basketball League of Puerto Rico —or Liga Baloncesto Superior Nacional De Puerto Rico (BSN) in Spanish— was established in 1933 and has produced a handful of NBA players and a lot of classic games and emotive moments to its fans.
The BSN league has had teams in many cities, although for economical reasons, they prefer to stay within Puerto Rico's larger towns. Each year, the regular season is played to a length of either 30 or 33 games per team, and then there is a round robin pitting the best 8 teams of the season, after which the best 4 start the semi-final series, to be played to a best of 7, followed by the finals, also to a best of 7.
In 2003, the Santurce Crabbers won their fifth franchise BSN title by sweeping the defending champion, Leones de Ponce. The Leones have 12 championships. The Vaqueros de Bayamon and Atleticos de San German are tied with 13 championships each for the league's all-time championship lead.
History
The BSN was a struggling league economically until the 1980s, when, with Genaro 'Tuto' Marchand as President, an explosion of basketball popularity happened all over Puerto Rico. Basketball tumbled Baseball as the Puerto Rican fan's 2nd favorite sport after boxing at that time.
The fact that WAPA-TV channel 4 transmitted 6 games a week for the whole island to see, was a major contributor to this change in popularity. These games were shown Sundays at 2 pm, Sundays at 9 pm, Wednesday nights at 9, Friday nights at 9, and Saturdays at 2 pm and at 9 pm.
During that time, legends like Mario 'Quijote' Morales, Raymond Dalmau, Jose 'Piculin' Ortiz, Jerome Mincy, Georgie Torres, Angelo Cruz, Angel 'Cachorro' Santiago, Federico 'Fico' Lopez and Ruben Rodriguez showcased their talents to all Puerto Rican TV viewers and game goers.
After Hetin Reyes took the league over there were economic problems, but in part this is due to the rise in the cost of living. Nevertheless, the league continues to operate with 16 franchises and is looking at the future with optimism.
Teams
Referenced By
Aguadilla | Aguadilla, Puerto Rico | Aibonito, Puerto Rico | Angel O. Berrios | Arecibo, Puerto Rico | Bayamon | Bayamon, Puerto Rico | Bayamón, Puerto Rico | Caguas Creoles (basketball) | Cangrejeros de Santurce (basketball) | Canovanas, Puerto Rico | Carlos Arroyo | Carolina, Puerto Rico | Cayey | Cayey, Puerto Rico | Coamo, Puerto Rico | Criollos de Caguas (basketball) | Daniel Santiago | Dominicana DC-9 air disaster | Fajardo | Fajardo, Puerto Rico | Felicity Willis | Guaynabo, Puerto Rico | Jerome Mincy | Jose Ortiz | José 'Piculin' Ortiz | José Ortiz | List of Celebrities With Diabetes | List of Panamanians | List of celebrities who've suffered drug addiction | List of celebrities who are proven drug users or have been caught with drugs | List of celebrities with drug history | List of celebrities with drug using history or who have been caught with drugs | List of celebrities with illicit drug history | List of non-Puerto Rican residents of Puerto Rico | List of people by name: Ho | List of people by name: Mi | List of people by name: Ro | List of people with two or more professions | Manolo Rivera Morales | Mario 'Quijote' Morales | Mario Morales | Rafael Bracero | Ramon Ramos | Raymond Dalmau | Roberto Clemente Coliseum | Ruben Rodriguez | San German, Puerto Rico | San Germán, Puerto Rico | Santurce Crabbers (basketball) | Sports in Puerto Rico | TLAs from AAA to DZZ | Televicentro | WAPA-TV
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