In Cuba, basketball has been played for about 200 years, although its popularity and spread across the country was relatively thin until the Cuban revolution.

Outside of Havana, basketball was rarely seen, although in the small town of Bejucal, south of the capital and now pertaining to the Havana province, many championships were organized and followed with interest by the locals.

Women's basketball started to take off in the 1930's when a team participated in the Central American and Caribbean Games of 1935. The men's team participated in the 1948 Olympic games but Cuban basketball did not make international waves until the 1970's.

For Cuba, basketball really began in 1970 when the team took third in the University Games, then beat the American team in 1971 at the Pan American Games and the following year took bronze at the Olympics.

In 1973, the team came in second at the Peru World Festival and fought to fourth position in Basketball World Championship which took place in Puerto Rico the year after.

The female Cuban basketball team have not been so successful as the male team, but notably in 1970 put a stop to the Mexicans who had taken gold in the Central American and Caribbean Games for the previous 35 years. They have also won the Pan American games on 2 occasions, 1979 and 1999 as well as taking third place at the 1990 World Championship.

In Cuba, basketball is not as popular as other team sports, but still maintains a steady stream of fans and has seen a number of stars rise up who still continue their sporting careers in Cuban basketball, albeit as trainers or assistants.