NBA Star Turned Reggaetonero Has Jersey Retired in Puerto Rico

Basketball star Carlos Arroyo was honored last night in Puerto Rico. His jersey was retired at the Cangrejeros de Santurce game inside the Roberto Clemente Coliseum. Basketball fans have long known Arroyo, and Puerto Ricans have long cheered him on.

Arroyo told the members of the media at the event, “It is a great pride to be close to my teammates up there. It means the most to me. There is a lot of history on this court.”

And there certainly is a lot of history. For those who are not ‘in the know’ of this basketball great, his story is actually one that is ripe for a great Hollywood movie. Born and raised in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, Arroyo signed with the Toronto Raptors after graduating from Florida International University. His career would have him playing for the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics, and a few teams in Europe. In that time, he also competed for the Puerto Rican national team. That includes a much-memorialized game in which the PR national team beat the USA basketball team in the 2004 Olympics. In the summer of 2016, he announced his retirement.

Arroyo simultaneously started his own music label, Arroyo Hit Music,  and released music of his own in the late 2000s. Under that label, he would release hits to Yomo and Ivy Queen. Since his retirement, he has gone on to work with Rauw Alejandro for “Héroe” and Jowell y Randy on his newest single “Le Desean.”

Today his sports and music loves have collided, well, sort of. Arroyo has recently signed with Rimas, the label owned by Bad Bunny’s manager Noah. In addition to the music label, the two also own the basketball team Cangrejeros de Santurce, which hosted his jersey retirement. His latest single, “Una Como Tu,” is out now.