Arroyo totes hopes of a nation

With fists full of respect, he carried his homeland's flag in Friday night's Opening Ceremonies for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

Starting this weekend, Carlos Arroyo totes the hopes of an island nation.

The hand dealt him as the Games go on, however, is something much less favorable than Friday's honorary task: His team, which isn't expected to medal, opens pool play Sunday against the usually powerful USA.

Yet, as Puerto Rico's starting point guard, Arroyo feels a sense of responsibility — not just to represent but to do so knowing full well that the eyes of an entire United States territory will be watching over him.

"When I do it," he said of wearing the Puerto Rican national team's uniform, "I do it with a lot of pride."

Puerto Rico was puffing, too, when Arroyo — the Jazz's No. 3 point guard two NBA seasons ago, and their starter at the point in 2003-04 — agreed last month on a four-year, $16-million contract to remain in Utah.

"This is great for my country," Arroyo said after signing the pact.

"Everybody that sees me on the streets (in Puerto Rico)," he added, "they stop me and say, 'You signed. Great. Congratulations. We feel very proud.' "

As sports icons go, Arroyo hovers near — maybe even at — the top of Puerto Rico's current hot list.

"What Carlos is to the Puerto Rican people," Jazz owner Larry H. Miller said, "is something I think is hard for any of us to understand — unless we're there, seeing how he's talked about in the media, and the regard he's held (in)."

Arroyo's mug is plastered on billboards scattered throughout the island, smiling larger-than-life. He has an endorsement with McDonald's franchises in Puerto Rico. And in the days and weeks leading to these Olympics, there have been more photo shoots than there are throwaway cameras in a San Juan souvenir shop.

It's largely because the undrafted Arroyo has overcome the odds, converting himself into something others from Puerto Rico before him could not.

This isn't, mind you, big man Jose Ortiz, who bombed during a relatively short NBA stint with the Jazz — but is still a noted fixture on the Puerto Rican basketball scene, and a teammate of Arroyo's this month in Athens.