Manuel Raga

Manuel "Manolo" Raga Navarro is a Mexican former professional basketball player. During his playing career, he was nicknamed, "The Flying Mexican", due to his nationality and his one of a kind 43-inch standing vertical leap. He was named the Best Mexican Player of the 20th Century in 2000. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. In 2016, he became a FIBA Hall of Fame player. Along with players like Carlos Quintanar, Arturo Guerrero, and a few others, Raga is generally considered to be one of the best Mexican basketball players of all time.

Club career

Raga played professionally for Varese in the Italian League, from 1968 to 1974, and with them, he won three EuroLeague championships. In 1970, he became the first player from an international league to be selected in the NBA draft, when Atlanta Hawks general manager, Marty Blake, took him with the 167th overall pick. He also would be the only true international selection from the American Basketball Association when the Pittsburgh Condors took him as their final selection ever in the franchise's history during the 18th round before going defunct later in 1972. However, Raga never played either in the NBA or the rivaling ABA. ==National team career==

National team career

Raga was a part of the senior national team of Mexico. He won a gold medal at the 1965 CentroBasket, and a silver medal at the 1967 Pan American Games. ==Personal life==

Personal life

Raga's son, Manuel Raga Jr., was also a professional basketball player. He played college basketball in the United States, with the Cal Poly Mustangs. Manuel Jr. also played professionally in the EuroLeague, with the Lugano Snakes, which was the successor club of SP Federale Lugano, which his father, Manuel Sr., had also previously played with. ==Awards and accomplishments==

Awards and accomplishments

Club career • Italian League Champion (3): 1969, 1970, 1971 • Italian Cup Winner (3): 1969, 1970, 1971 • FIBA European Champions Cup (EuroLeague) Champion (3): 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73 • FIBA Intercontinental Cup Champion (2): 1970, 1973 • Swiss League Champion (3): 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77 • Swiss Cup Winner: 1974–75 • Best Mexican Player of the 20th Century: 2000 • 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors: 2008 • FIBA Hall of Fame: 2016 ==References==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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