Despite scoring over 20 points per game as a senior at Florida International, the Puerto Rican still didn’t get drafted into the NBA. He was able to find a home with the Utah Jazz in 2002, becoming a full-time starter the following year on their playoff team, averaging 12.6 points and 5.0 assists per game.
Throughout Carlos Arroyo‘s nine-year NBA career (he spent a season in Israel in between), he was one of the better backup guards in the league. More of a point guard in the pros, he was a great option to run the second unit and facilitate the offense.
That’s why contending teams were always interested in him, whether it was the Detroit Pistons from 2004 to 2006, then the Orlando Magic, the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics years later. He was a part-time starter on the Heat’s NBA Finals team in 2010-11.
Besides being a solid NBA player, Arroyo really made his name on the world stage in 2004, where he dropped 25 points in Puerto Rico’s historic upset over the United States in the 2004 Summer Olympics.
He’s heralded as a hero in the Latino basketball community and has helped ushered in a potential golden era of young basketball players in the region. Arroyo was a winner in just about all of his stops throughout his basketball career, which is more important than the individual statistics he put up.
Career stats (569 games): 6.6 points, 3.1 assists, 1.7 rebounds per game