City of Mexico City Rumors | Hoops Rumors

NBA Plans To Establish G League Team In Mexico City

December 7th, 2017 at 1:55pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA intends to “move quickly” toward establishing an NBA G League franchise in Mexico City, league sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links). According to Stein, the NBA wants to get a team up and running as soon as it’s feasible, which could happen as early as next season.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of the NBA’s interest in an expansion G League franchise in Mexico City. Last month, when Jonathan Givony of ESPN reported that the league was set to announce the opening of a basketball academy in Mexico, he noted that Mexico City was a candidate to emerge as the location for a G League franchise.

Although not all of the NBA’s 30 teams have G League affiliates of their own yet, a G League franchise in Mexico City is unlikely to be affiliated with any specific NBA team, per Stein’s full report on the plan. Stein indicates the club would be owned and operated locally, while Givony’s report last month suggested that top prospects from the NBA’s training academies could graduate to that G League team in Mexico.

For now, 26 NBA teams either own and operate their own G League teams or have a direct affiliation with a G League squad. The Wizards and Pelicans are good bets to join that group next season, with the Trail Blazers and Nuggets looming as the potential final two holdouts.

If the NBA installs a G League franchise in Mexico City and it thrives, it could be the first step toward eventually establishing an NBA franchise in the largest market in Latin America. As Stein notes, the league isn’t currently looking to expand or to relocate any of its teams, but commissioner Adam Silver views Mexico City as a logical candidate for a franchise in the event of relocation or expansion. A G League team could help generate more interest in basketball in Mexico, helping to pave the way for an eventual NBA franchise.

NBA To Open Training Academy In Mexico City

November 22nd, 2017 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA is on track to open a new development and training academy in Mexico City, according to Jonathan Givony of ESPN, who reports that the league-funded basketball academy will be officially announced at next month’s Global Games in Mexico.

The academy in Mexico City will be the seventh of its kind, as the NBA has already opened academies in Senegal, India, and Australia, along with three in China. According to Givony, the new NBA Academy Latin America will “be utilized as a location for male and female prospects from Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, starting early next year.”

While the opening of the academy is worth noting on its own, Givony also hears that it could be the first step toward the NBA establishing a stronger foothold in Mexico City. The league has long contemplated the idea of having a team based in Mexico, and sources tell ESPN that the new academy could help make that a more viable possibility.

According to Givony, Mexico City may eventually emerge as a 31st franchise for the G League, where prospects from the league’s seven training academies graduate to. As ESPN’s report notes, commissioner Adam Silver has addressed the idea of a Mexico City franchise in the past, suggesting that Mexico will need to produce home-grown NBA players to make it a legit possibility.

“Obviously, it’s an incredible market with over 20 million people, the largest market in North America,” Silver said of Mexico City in January. “While we have no immediate plans to expand, one of the things that we look at, it’s whether expanding will be additive to the league as a whole and clearly coming to Mexico City, not just because the population of the city but as a gateway to the rest of Latin America could potentially be very important for the league.”

Community Shootaround: NBA’s Presence in Mexico

January 16th, 2017 at 7:11pm CST by Milo Taibi

The NBA’s two-game foray in Mexico City this month may only be a small sign of things to come, as commissioner Adam Silver sounds bullish on the league’s future in Mexico, citing a competitive market and “state-of-the-art arena” to hold NBA games. Prior to Saturday’s match-up between the Suns and Spurs, Silver addressed opportunities to expand in Mexico.

“In terms of a franchise in Mexico City, it’s something that we’re going to look at,” Silver told reporters, including Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “While we have no immediate plans to expand the NBA, one of the things that we look at is whether expanding would be additive to the league as a whole…of course we’ve had these two regular-season games, and whether we bring additional regular-season games in the next season or do some sort of tournament where you bring over a group of teams and they all play each other in some format — that’s something that we’re looking at.”

The league’s two-game excursion to Mexico City was undoubtedly a success. 20-year-old Devin Booker raised his international profile by recording back-to-back 39-point games, leading Phoenix to an upset win over the Spurs. What’s more, players didn’t have to deal with burdensome time changes as they do for games in Europe. While the NBA’s market has been slow to develop in the UK (Brits have an “ambivalent attitude” toward U.S. sport, Ian Chadbank of ESPN writes), it seems there is immediate potential for growth in Mexico.

So what do you think: would the NBA benefit from their second non-U.S. team? Would tournament format games in Mexico City make sense for the 2017/18 season?

Let us know in the comments section!

NBA Considering Possibility Of Expansion?

October 13th, 2016 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

As the NBA and NBPA work toward finalizing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the league is also reportedly considering the possibility of expansion, according to Kevin Nesgoda of SonicsRising.com. While no NBA teams are expected to relocate anytime soon, the league apparently hasn’t ruled out the possibility of moving into a new (or old) market via expansion.

According to Nesgoda, he asked dozens of media and league sources whether NBA expansion is on the table, and the overwhelming majority suggested the possibility is being discussed. Nothing is certain at this point, but Nesgoda hears that Seattle remains on the league’s radar. Nesgoda identifies Louisville, Pittsburgh, Omaha, Las Vegas, Vancouver, and Mexico City as other cities that could attempt to vie for a franchise if given the opportunity.

The possibility of expansion is an interesting one for the NBA, particularly if there’s a city with an NBA-ready arena prepared to make a play for a team. Unlike Major League Baseball, where teams play nearly every day, the NBA could conceivably function with an odd number of teams, so adding a single franchise would be realistic. That scenario would dilute the league-wide talent pool slightly, but not significantly enough to have a real impact on the quality of play.

As Nesgoda cautions, there are still plenty of roadblocks between NBA expansion becoming a reality in Seattle or another city, even if the league were to open up bidding. A potential ownership group would require the land, the funding, and the approval for an NBA arena in order to be taken seriously as a potential location for a franchise. Still, it’s something worth keeping an eye on as the league and the players’ union negotiate a new CBA deal.