Javier Antonio "Toñito" Colón (born June 4, 1969) is a retired Puerto Rican

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 ...

. Colón spent his entire career as a

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 ...

for the Leones de Ponce of the BSN from 1987 to 2008. Colón led the team to five championships during his career, and is currently third on assists of all-time in the league. Colón also played for the

Puerto Rico National Basketball Team The Puerto Rico national basketball team () represents Puerto Rico in men's international basketball competitions, it is governed by the Puerto Rican Basketball Federation (), The team represents both FIBA and FIBA Americas. Since joining FIB ...

from 1990 to 1999.

Career

Colón was born in

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce ( , , ) is a city and a Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The most populated city outside the San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan metropolitan area, Ponce was founded on August 12, 1692Some publ ...

on June 4, 1969. He debuted with the Leones de Ponce in 1987 when he was 17 years old. Colón became a starter for the team in 1989 and became its captain until 2004. In 1990, he led the Leones to its first championship in 24 years. The team would win again in 1992 and 1993, as Colón led a sharpshooting team known for its accuracy. Colón, along with teammates

Bobby Ríos Roberto "Bobby" Ríos Osorio (born August 14, 1957) is a retired Puerto Rican basketball player. Ríos played as a point guard and shooting guard for five different teams during his career, and won three championships. He is currently 5th in assi ...

, José "Papote" Agosto, and Charlie Lanauze were referred to as the "

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are figures in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible, a piece of apocalypse literature attributed to John of Patmos, and generally regarded as dating from about AD 95. Similar allusions a ...

" by the media. Colón averaged 18.2 points per game in 1993, the highest of his career. Colón and the Leones would reach the Finals again in 1995, 1996, 1998, and 2003. In 2004, they beat the

Vaqueros de Bayamón The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

for their fifth championship in 15 years. Colón dedicated the championship to the Mayor of Ponce

Rafael Cordero Santiago Rafael Cordero Santiago (24 October 1942 – 17 January 2004), better known as "Churumba", was the Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1989 to 2004. Many considered him as a synonym of Ponce, being baptized as "El León Mayor ...

, an avid fan of the team, who had died early that year. Colón was selected as one of the league's best players of the 1990s, along with Eddie Casiano, James Carter,

Edgar de León Edgar Francisco de León (born 2 November 1964) is a Puerto Rican basketball player. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the X ...

and José "Piculín" Ortiz. In his last years as a player, Colón settled on a role of back-up point guard."Toñito" Colón regresa a los Leones
on

WAPA-TV WAPA-TV (channel 4) is a Spanish-language independent television station in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is the flagship and namesake station of Guaynabo-based WAPA Media Group. WAPA-TV maintains studio facilities on Luis Vigoreaux Avenue ...

(16/1/08) He retired in 2008.

Statistics

, - , align="left" , 1987 , align="left" , Ponce , 19 , , .517 , , .500 , , .808 , , 0.8 , , 1.0 , , 4.6 , - , align="left" , 1988 , align="left" , Ponce , 30 , , .522 , , .320 , , .767 , , 1.0 , , 1.7 , , 6.1 , - , align="left" , 1989 , align="left" , Ponce , 30 , , .584 , , .426 , , .773 , , 2.8 , , 5.9 , , 12.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 1990 , align="left" , Ponce , 24 , , .485 , , .314 , , .688 , , 3.3 , , 9.0 , , 11.9 , - , align="left" , 1991 , align="left" , Ponce , 30 , , .517 , , .528 , , .743 , , 4.3 , , 6.3 , , 14.0 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 1992 , align="left" , Ponce , 21 , , .458 , , .407 , , .906 , , 4.4 , , 7.1 , , 15.7 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 1993 , align="left" , Ponce , 34 , , .525 , , .489 , , .896 , , 4.5 , , 5.3 , , 18.2 , - , align="left" , 1994 , align="left" , Ponce , 26 , , .481 , , .371 , , .809 , , 4.0 , , 6.2 , , 14.8 , - , align="left" , 1995 , align="left" , Ponce , 16 , , .462 , , .333 , , .772 , , 3.7 , , 7.2 , , 16.8 , - , align="left" , 1996 , align="left" , Ponce , 33 , , .488 , , .343 , , .808 , , 4.8 , , 6.8 , , 15.3 , - , align="left" , 1997 , align="left" , Ponce , 28 , , .488 , , .410 , , .904 , , 5.2 , , 6.8 , , 16.9 , - , align="left" , 1998 , align="left" , Ponce , 30 , , .552 , , .434 , , .836 , , 5.0 , , 7.1 , , 15.8 , - , align="left" , 2000 , align="left" , Ponce , 18 , , .472 , , .364 , , .829 , , 3.0 , , 4.2 , , 10.8 , - , align="left" , 2001 , align="left" , Ponce , 25 , , .421 , , .406 , , .864 , , 4.0 , , 5.5 , , 13.6 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 2002 , align="left" , Ponce , 28 , , .466 , , .429 , , .792 , , 4.1 , , 5.1 , , 15.3 , - , align="left" , 2003 , align="left" , Ponce , 29 , , .440 , , .368 , , .838 , , 4.5 , , 4.4 , , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", 2004 , align="left" , Ponce , 29 , , .462 , , .483 , , .736 , , 3.6 , , 4.8 , , 11.2 , - , align="left" , 2005 , align="left" , Ponce , 32 , , .399 , , .414 , , .727 , , 3.6 , , 3.4 , , 10.2 , - , align="left" , 2006 , align="left" , Ponce , 25 , , .356 , , .362 , , .721 , , 2.5 , , 2.9 , , 9.0 , - , align="left" , 2007 , align="left" , Ponce , 28 , , .395 , , .328 , , .744 , , 1.2 , , 1.4 , , 5.2 , - , align="left" , 2008 , align="left" , Ponce , 20 , , .298 , , .333 , , .750 , , 0.5 , , 0.8 , , 2.6 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , , 555 , , .475 , , .405 , , .819 , , 3.5 , , 5.0 , , 12.3

Olympic career

Colón was a member of Puerto Rico's National Basketball team for 9 years (1990–1999). As a member, he participated at the

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

and

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

where the team finished 8th and 10th respectively. He also participated in several

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

tournaments, winning a gold medal in

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

and two silver medals in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. Colón and the Puerto Rico team also won the gold at the

1991 Pan American Games The 1991 Pan American Games, officially known as the XI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Havana 1991 (), were held in Havana, Cuba from 2 to 18 August 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organi ...

and 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 ...

. Other tournaments and events were Colón participated with the Puerto Rico team were

Centrobasket The Centrobasket is a FIBA-sponsored international basketball tournament where national teams from Central America and the Caribbean participate. These countries make up the Central American and Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CONCENCABA). Th ...

(winning two gold medals) and the

Central American and Caribbean Games The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for 32 countries and ...

(winning one gold medal). Colón quit the international team in 1999 after an injury had him sidelined the whole year.

References

External links

Toñito Colón Profile
on BSNPR.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Colon, Javier 1969 births Living people Baloncesto Superior Nacional players Basketball players at the 1991 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players at the 1995 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Puerto Rico Competitors at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games Leones de Ponce basketball players Olympic basketball players for Puerto Rico Pan American Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Pan American Games basketball players for Puerto Rico Pan American Games gold medalists in basketball Point guards Puerto Rican men's basketball players Puerto Rico men's national basketball team players 1998 FIBA World Championship players Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games 1994 FIBA World Championship players 20th-century American sportsmen