Roberto Duenas

Roberto Dueñas Hernández (Móstoles, Madrid, November 1, 1975) is a former Spanish basketball player from the 1990s and 2000s. He stands out for being, at 2.21 m tall, the Tallest player in Spanish basketball. He triumphed at FC Barcelona playing, as a starting center, for ten years, between 1995 and 2005, and participating in the conquest of six ACB leagues, 2 Copas del Rey, 1 Euroleague and 1 Korac Cup.

In his nine years with F. C. Barcelona, he captured 2,113 rebounds and put in 266 blocks, being the top rebounder and blocker in Barça's history, as well as accumulating 28 games against Real Madrid, being the third Blaugrana player with the most classics has played, behind Juan Carlos Navarro and Andrés Jiménez.

Sports career

Lower Categories

His first team was the Móstoles youth team (1992-93), he played on loan at Fuenlabrada (1994-95). Dueñas signed for FC Barcelona in the 1994-1995 season, although he initially played for Club Bàsquet Cornellá (1995-96), a subsidiary of the Barça team. That season, however, he already participated in some matches for the first team.

ACB League

In the 1996-1997 season, he finally joined the Barcelona first team. After completing a great season in the ACB League, that same year he was chosen in the NBA draft (2nd round, number 58) by the Chicago Bulls. Subsequently, his rights were transferred to the New Orleans Hornets. Dueñas, however, he rejected the option of going to play in the North American professional league and chose to continue playing for FC Barcelona.

Thanks to his impressive height (2.21m), weight (141kg) and size, Roberto Dueñas became one of the most decisive centers in European basketball, and contributed decisively to the success of both his club and of the Spanish basketball team. However, his chronic back problems kept him off the slopes more and more frequently, forcing him to undergo surgery on several occasions.

In 2001 Dueñas renewed his contract with Barcelona for five seasons, although the Barça club included a clause in the contract according to which the club reserved a few days off at the end of each season to let him know if he would continue or not their ranks, depending on their physical condition.

On July 5, 2005, F.C. Barcelona informed him of the termination of his contract, within the framework of the profound renewal of the squad carried out by the new Barça basketball technical director, Zoran Savić, and the new coach, Duško Ivanovic.

After leaving F. C. Barcelona, Roberto Dueñas signed for Akasvayu Girona, a club that was reinforced with major signings, especially with the signing of NBA point guard Raül López.

After playing for a season in Girona, upon the arrival of coach Svetislav Pešić, Dueñas saw that they did not have him and signed for Joventut de Badalona, a team in which Euroleague and ACB have played, until in April he was loaned to Club Bàsquet Prat in theory, until the end of the season, with the intention of getting in good shape to face the ACB Play-Offs in the fight for the title, but after playing only one game with CB Prat, he refused to to continue in that club, and he returned to rejoin Joventut de Badalona, retiring permanently at the end of the 2006-07 season.

Clubs

• CB Móstoles (juvenil): 1992-1994.
• CB Fuenlabrada (2nd Division): 1994-1995.
• CB Cornellà (EBA): 1995-1996.
• F. C. Barcelona (ACB): 1996-2005.
• Akasvayu Girona (ACB): 2005-2006.
• DKV Joventut (ACB): 2006-April 2007 (Cedido al Club Bàsquet Prat).
• Divided from the Badalona Joventut Club to the CB Prat (LEB-2) the assignment last week.
• DKV Joventut (ACB): April 2007-June 2007 (back to the Joventut of Badalona after playing a match with CB Prat).

Retirement and tributes

On July 8, 2007, he announced to the media his retirement from professional basketball at the end of Spain's participation in Eurobasket 2007, due to chronic back problems that have made him go through the basketball court on several occasions. operating room. On the 16th, he made his withdrawal from Joventut de Badalona effective against teammates such as Juan Carlos Navarro, Marc Gasol, Nacho Rodríguez, Rodrigo de la Fuente, Nacho Solozabal, Chichi Creus, Gregor Fucka, Jordi Villacampa, Manel Bosch, Roger Grimau and Joan Montes. That same month, Barcelona announced the withdrawal of its number 12 shirt as a tribute, thus joining Epi, Nacho Solozábal and Andrés Jiménez, who also received such an honor in their day.

On December 3, 2007, he joined the youth basketball discipline of F. C. Barcelona and his task is to carry out specific training sessions for the youth players.

Honours of Prizes

• 1 Euroliga: 2003
• 6 ACB League, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2004
• 2 Basketball King Cup: 2001 and 2003
• 1 Korac Cup: 1999.
• 2 Lliga Catalana de Bàsquet: 2000/2001, 2001/2002.
• 1 silver medal at the Eurobasket in Paris ’99, with the Spanish selection.
• MVP of the ACB League Finals of 1997.
• Three times All-Star participant in the ACB (Cáceres ’96, Murcia ’98 and Manresa ’99).