Manuel Cintrón Vega (born January 4, 1963 in Ponce, Puerto Rico

Ponce, Puerto Rico

Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...

) is a former Puerto Rican professional basketball player, who for 11 seasons in the 1980s and early 1990s played with several teams in the National Basketball League in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

., including the "Atléticos de San German", the "Leones de Ponce"

Ponce Lions (basketball)

The Leones de Ponce are a BSN basketball team based in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The Lions are one of the BSN's most successful franchises, having won a total of twelve championships...

 and the "Gigantes de Carolina".

He is the former head coach of the Puerto Rico national basketball team

Puerto Rico national basketball team

The Puerto Rico men's national basketball team represents Puerto Rico in international basketball competitions such as the Olympics, the World Championship, and the Americas Championship...

, after being replaced in 2011 by Flor Melendez

Flor Melendez

Flor Meléndez Montañez , better known plainly as Flor Meléndez, is a well known former basketball player and an international coach from Puerto Rico. He is a native of Cidra and the current head coach of Puerto Rico's basketball team.-Early life:Meléndez is the son of Florencio Meléndez and Emilia...

. He is the head coach of Veracruz

Veracruz

Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...

´s "Halcones Rojos" in the Mexican Professional Basketball League

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional

The Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 11 teams, expanding to 24 as of 2008...

.

In the past, he has been the head coach of: the "Explosivos de Moca" (PR, 2001–2002), the "Toros de Aragua Maracay" (Ven, 2002), the "Vaqueros de Bayamón" (PR, 2002), the "Capitanes de Arecibo" (PR, 2003), the "Explosivos de Moca" (PR, 2003–2004), the "Leones de Ponce"

Ponce Lions (basketball)

The Leones de Ponce are a BSN basketball team based in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The Lions are one of the BSN's most successful franchises, having won a total of twelve championships...

 (PR, 2004–2006), the "Indios de Mayagüez" (PR, 2007) and the "Vaqueros de Bayamón" (PR, 2008).

As the assistant head coach of Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico national basketball team

The Puerto Rico men's national basketball team represents Puerto Rico in international basketball competitions such as the Olympics, the World Championship, and the Americas Championship...

 from 2001 to 2006, he helped the team obtain gold at the 2001 Centrobasket

2001 Centrobasket

This page shows the results of the 2001 Men's Central American and Caribbean Basketball Championship, also known as the 2001 Centrobasket, which was held in the city of Toluca, Mexico from July 11 to July 15, 2001...

. In 2007, he became Puerto Rico's head coach, taking over the work done by Julio Toro

Julio Toro

Julio Toro is a Puerto Rican basketball coach. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, he made history by becoming the first non-Soviet coach to defeat the United States during Olympic competition, and the first coach to defeat an American team composed of NBA players at an Olympics...

. He has managed to team to a gold medal at the 2008 Centrobasket

2008 Centrobasket

The 2008 Men's Central American and Caribbean Basketball Championship, also known as 2008 Centrobasket, was hosted in Cancún and Chetumal, México...

, to silver medals at the 2007 Pan American Games

Basketball at the 2007 Pan American Games

Basketball at the 2007 Pan American Games took place at the indoor arena in the Autódromo de Jacarépagua built specially for the Pan Am Games. Brazil was the reigning Pan American champion in the men's competition, while Cuba defended its title in the women's competition.Each competition had eight...

 and the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship

FIBA Americas Championship 2009

The 2009 FIBA Americas Championship was the continental championships held by FIBA Americas for North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The championship served as a qualifying tournament for the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey...

 and a bronze medal at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship.