By: Sierra Green 🇺🇸
Image via NBAE via Getty Images (Juan Ocampo)
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a league that wants to expand globally. Currently, the league is made up of 30 teams, 15 on the east coast and 15 on the west coast. Within the league, only one team is placed outside of the United States, the Toronto Raptors in Canada. Although most NBA professional play happens within the U.S., their impact is worldwide.
In the hopes of expanding the game of basketball and opportunities within the NBA, a new location was built in Mexico City. Since 1992, there has been a single NBA game played between two teams at the CDMX arena every season, known as the “south of the border game.”
This year's annual matchup took place on Nov. 2 between the Washington Wizards and the Miami Heat. This year served as a special occasion as it was a mixture of sports and culture. The game took place on el Día de los Muertos and the court was decorated in celebration. It was also a special moment for Heat star Jaime Jaquez who is of Mexican descent.
“I know it speaks loud to people knowing that I have Mexican heritage and to be able to play down there in front of all those fans… It’s going to be inspiring,” Jaquez said.
Although there is not an official NBA team at the CDMX location, there is a G-league team. These are minor-league teams, created to develop and prepare athletes and coaches for the big stage. There are currently 31 of these teams, 30 of which are affiliated with their NBA team. The only one not connected to an NBA team is the Capitanes de Ciudad de México. The Capitanes were an added G-league team for the 2021-2022 season.
This allows players of various backgrounds the chance to come together and share their love for Basketball. Capitanes players include Juan Toscano-Anderson, who is the first player of Mexican descent to win an NBA championship title. He won alongside greats like Steph Curry, who was his teammate for the Warriors’ 2022 Championship team.
Adam Silver, the current commissioner of the NBA, mentioned a want to one day have a team in Mexico City. He also admitted that this expansion is unfortunately many years away. The main reason being that many other major U.S. cities are probably next in line to have their own team.
The Mexico City NBA arena has become a huge piece in the overall expansion of the league and the sport of basketball in general for decades. As NBA fans it’s exciting to see the growing involvement of countries around the world. The impact of this expansion will be seen through fans internationally and children who never would have had an interest in playing basketball without it.
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