The Criollos professional basketball team began to play during the 1976 season, joining their counterparts the Criollos of baseball. Unlike their baseball counterparts, however, the basketball Criollos have not enjoyed a wild and steady success, instead settling for moderate success.
The Criollos, with Cayey's native Willie Melendez and Caguas native Willie Quinones on their side, reached the semi-finals in 1984. Melendez was traded to the Polluelos de Aibonito the following season, however, and The Criollos then went on a downward spiral, going 12-21 in 1986, 7-23 in 1987, 9-24 in 1988 and 10-20 in 1989. It should be noted that Quinones, although the Criollos only once posted a winning record with him as a player, always refused to be traded as he declared over and over again that he would only play for his hometown's team. He is a member of the exclusive group of basketball players that have scored 5,000 or more points in Puerto Rican basketball history, 5,000 points being a coveted number because of the relatively small amount of games played each year (from 30 to 33 games per season).
In 1987, Caguas mayor Angel O. Berrios took over as team owner. In the 1990s, a Criollos revival began, and he hired such players as Luis Allende and Orlando Guayacan Santiago. The Criollos reached the semi-finals again in 2002, and got to the playoffs in 2003, losing in the first round.