Carl Herrera


Carl Víctor Herrera Allen is a retired Trinidadian-born Venezuelan basketball player. A power forward, he was part of the Houston Rockets National Basketball Association championship teams of the mid-1990s. He was the first Venezuelan to ever play in the NBA.

Basketball career

Out of Jacksonville Junior College in Texas and the University of Houston, Herrera was selected by the Miami Heat with the 30th pick in the 1990 NBA Draft, spending his first professional season in Spain, with Real Madrid. Partnering with another future NBA player, Stanley Roberts, he helped the Liga ACB club to the Korać Cup final in his only season.
Herrera began his professional career in the United States in 1991 with the Houston Rockets, where he played until 1995, when the Rockets swept the Orlando Magic in four games to win their second straight NBA Championship. During the regular season of the two successful seasons combined, he averaged six points and four rebounds in roughly 20 minutes of play.
Afterwards, Herrera spent three seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, before splitting the final year of his NBA career, the lockout-shortened 1999 season, with the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Denver Nuggets.
After wrapping up his NBA career, he rejoined the Venezuelan basketball league, where he began playing at the age of 16. Herrera was also a long-time member of the Venezuela national team.
Herrera later became a coach with Gatos de Monagas.