NBA Views Mexico City as Potential Site for Expansion Team amid G League Experiment

The Capitanes de Ciudad de Mexico made their G League debut on Sunday, and the team reportedly could play a major role in the NBA's plans of future expansion.

According to Andscape's Marc J. Spears, the league confirmed that Mexico City is being eyed as a site for a possible expansion team "if all goes well" with the Captaines, who defeated the Rio Grande Vipers 120-84 on Sunday night in front of 7,391 fans at Arena CDMX.

"Expansion is currently not on the docket, but at some point, if we were to turn to expansion, there’s no doubt that Mexico City would have to be one [of] the cities that would be in consideration along with a host of other very big and relevant cities in North America," NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum said.

Tatum further explained that the prospect of international expansion has been hindered by travel issues and facility issues, but neither of those are prevalent in Mexico City. Per Spears, Tatum and other G League executives also don't have safety concerns over having a team in Mexico City, as the G League "has several safety measures in place, including a police escort to and from games."

The last time the NBA expanded was in 2004 with the Charlotte Bobcats, who later relocated and became the New Orleans Pelicans. While Tatum reiterated that further expansion is not on the horizon, Spears noted that it appears to be an inevitability.

"If and when the NBA does expand, it is expected that Seattle will land a team that can finally replace the SuperSonics, which were relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008," Spears stated. "Silver has acknowledged Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James’ interest in wanting to be a part of an ownership group for a potential expansion team in Las Vegas."

The benefit of also bringing a team to Mexico City would be boosting the NBA's popularity internationally. Not only would most Mexicans support the team, but it would likely generate interest from the rest of Latin America as well.

Mexico City has hosted many NBA games over the years, beginning with a preseason game in 1992 and the first regular-season matchup in 1997.

Former NBA forward Eduardo Najera, whose 619 career games are the most of any Mexican-born player, believes his home country is ready for a professional team and will display that with how they support the Capitanes.

"Mexico has been ready for quite some time," Najera said. "If you look at the metrics and the fans here in Mexico City alone, it’s quite significant. If you do it the right way, an NBA team can galvanize an entire [country]. We’re ready. Certainly, the G League is the first step. It is going to be up to the baby steps. If NBA fans in Mexico support this, it will be great to have the big boys here."