Puerto Rico's first appearance at a World Championship was in 1959 in Chile, where, led by Juan Vicéns, who averaged 22 points per game, the team finished 5th with a record of 3–6.

In 1963, at Puerto Rico's second World Championship appearance which took place in Brazil, the team, led by Rafael Valle and Juan Vicéns, opened the tournament winning two straight games.

[3] Three years later in Uruguay, at the 1967 World Championship, the team, led this time by Raymond Dalmau, was only able to finish 12th, ending the decade with a 9th place at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

Also, the 1974 World Championship and the 1979 Pan American Games were held in San Juan, promoting local enthusiasm for international basketball and Puerto Rico's presence in it.

Two years earlier, at the 1986 World Championshipat in Spain, Puerto Rico's performance granted it the 10th place, having failed to qualify for the 1982 Championship in Colombia.

Having failed to qualify for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia with its 4th place at the 1999 Tournament of the Americas hosted in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 2001 the team was able to recover its CentroBasket title, with a triumph in Mexico.

Puerto Rico, with a 5–1 record entering the quarterfinals, lost its chance to get into the medals round only by a dramatic 2-points loss to New Zealand, eventually placing 7th.

In 2005, Puerto Rico was invited to play at the 2005 Stanković Continental Champions' Cup in Beijing, where it lost all five games and ended up finishing in 6th place.

En route to the World Championship, Puerto Rico won bronze at the 2006 Centrobasket, losing the automatic classification to the 2008 tournament, but recovering in time to earn gold at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Later, at the group play stage of the 2006 World Championship, which was contested in Japan, Puerto Rico started with victories over Senegal and China, but lost ties against the United States, Italy and Slovenia.

[8] Then, a second set of exhibition games would follow, scheduled to start on 8 July 2008, in Slovenia: the 2008 Alpos International Cup, where the team would face New Zealand, Iran and the hosts.

[9] On 4 June 2008, Daniel Santiago confirmed that he would abandon his international retirement and play with Puerto Rico in the Preolympic tournament.

[11] On 1 July 2008, hours before the team was scheduled to travel to Europe, Ángelo Reyes was excluded after not establishing communication with the directives.

[12] Subsequently, Reyes asked for a dispensation to attend personal matters, noting that he intended to join the team in a week; however, he was not included due to time constraints.

[13][14] In the first game at the Bamberg Super Cup, Puerto Rico defeated Germany with a team composed mostly of reserve players, as Carlos Arroyo, Santiago, Larry Ayuso and Carmelo Lee were attending other compromises.

[15] Puerto Rico continued playing with these players, finishing 2nd, after losing the final game to Greece, who entered the cup with their entire lineup.

[16][17] Santiago and Ayuso joined the practices on 5 July 2008, when Puerto Rico traveled to Slovenia, where the Alpos International Cup was being held.

At the end, Puerto Rico finished the tournament with the silver medal, having lost the game against Argentina in the group stage, and losing the final against Brazil.

Pending the performance at the 2010 FIBA World Championship, this cycle has had Puerto Rico with a record of 19–2 (Caribebasket 6–0, Centrobasket 5–0, FIBA Americas 8–2), not counting the 2nd-place finish at the 2009 Marchand Continental Championship Cup, where Puerto Rico won the exhibition games against Argentina and Canada, but lost the final to Brazil.

On 27 August 2011, a chartered airplane carrying the team as well as the Canadian, Dominican and Brazilian national basketball teams from Foz de Iguacu, Brazil, to Mar del Plata, Argentina, made an emergency landing at Ezeiza International Airport, Buenos Aires, Argentina, after experiencing severe weather conditions mid-flight.

[31] On 26 February 2019, Puerto Rico defeated the Uruguayan national basketball team 65–61, securing their entrance into the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup in China[32] They were drawn to Group C, facing 2nd-ranked Spain, alongside Iran and Tunisia, with Puerto Rico facing Iran and Tunisia for the very first time.

On 27 July 2023, the New Orleans Pelicans announced that for precautionary reasons that Puerto Rican star PG Jose Alvarado would miss the 2023 FIBA world cup to allow him to heal up for the upcoming NBA season.

During most of the 1980s and up until the late 1990s, the team wore a solid color uniform, with accent lines and the word "Puerto Rico" written in stylized cursive.