Piratas de Bogota

John Giraldo is the name Piratas de Bogotá still measure themselves against. A team that borrowed Henry Morgan's name and gave its mascots his, Morgan and Morgana, needed a face people could attach to the costume.

The championships came in clusters rather than a steady climb. Piratas took the Liga Profesional de Baloncesto in 1999, then again in 2003 and 2004, and once more in 2014. Two runner-up finishes, in 1996 and 2001, sit either side of that run, close enough to the title to sting.

Abroad, the results read more modestly: fifth place in the Liga Sudamericana de Clubes in both 1997 and 2000. Domestically the sharper edge has always been against Academia de la Montaña — Bogotá against Antioquia, with finals in 2001 and 2003 giving the fixture its bite.