Alberto Pedro "Beto" Cabrera was an Argentinebasketball player. At club level, Cabrera won 17 championships with his former club, Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca and 12 titles playing for the Bahía Blanca City team. He also played 8 years for the Argentina national team, being also its captain. Cabrera had been considered the best Argentine basketballplayer ever before the huge success achieved by Manu Ginóbili playing at the NBA. Cabrera was also named Sportsman of the 20th Century by his born town, Bahía Blanca, in 1999. This city is also considered "Capital Nacional del Básquet#" in Argentina due to the popularity of that sport there.
Cabrera was born on December 16, 1945, in Bahía Blanca and started to play at 7 years old in Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca. Although he had not a stylized physique, his first movements on the field showed that Cabrera was specially skilled to control and pass the ball and he was also criterious to defend, being an outstanding blocker due to his timming to jump. He was not only a strategist but a great scorer, achieving an average of 28 points in one season. Moreover, his experience after many years of career and his permanent interest in the game made Cabrera deserver of nicknames such as "El Mago". His debut in Primera División was on November 30, 1961. In 1963 Cabrera won his first title with Estudiantes, defeating 49-42 to Independiente in the final game. He was only 17. During the 1970s, Estudiantes played some of the most relevant gamas against arch-rival Olimpo, with Atilio Fruet as its most notable player. Cabrera and Fruet would become rivals inside the court and friends outside. Cabrera also played 8 years for the Argentina national basketball team, with a total of 16 matches disputed. His debut was in the Mundial Extra hosted in Chile in 1966, playing then the 1967 and 1974FIBA World Championships which took place in Uruguay and Puerto Rico, respectively. His score average was 11,5 points. On January 16, 1984, Cabrera retired from the activity winning a Torneo Bahiense championship. He died of leukemia on August 12, 2000.
Honors and awards
Championships
;Club
Estudiantes
* Torneo Oficial : 1965, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1982, 1983
