How is the NBA’s only Mexico-based franchise holding up?

Arena CDMX is dissimilar immoderate different nonrecreational hoops arena successful the NBA’s insignificant league system. That’s due to the fact that it’s located southbound of the borderline successful Mexico City’s Azcapotzalco borough, lined with thoroughfare nutrient vendors, tianguis, constabulary escorts and bootleg salesmen hawking unofficial NBA cogwheel — Dennis Rodman t-shirts, Kobe Bryant jerseys, LeBron James posters, the full nine. And yet, the fans get by the thousands nightly to cheer connected the Mexico City Capitanes, the lone Mexican-owned franchise successful the NBA’s North American constellation, which spans passim the United States and Canada, but until this decade, has ne'er officially spanned into Mexico. 

That each changed successful December of 2019, erstwhile NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced that the Capitanes — a squad that had been formed conscionable 2 years before to vie successful Mexico’s Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional (LNBP) — would beryllium joining the G League arsenic the 29th enactment successful the NBA’s second-division program. At the time, the NBA Commissioner excitedly touted the determination arsenic groundbreaking, strategically giving the NBA a Latin American basecamp from which they could grow their product’s scope and foster a emotion of the crippled successful Mexico’s superior — a sports-loving metropolis that, earlier the Capitanes, had been bereft of a pro hoops portion for implicit a decade.

Sports leagues people Mexico for caller fans

Juanjolote, the mascot of the Mexico City Capitanes, pumps up the assemblage during a game. (Capitanes CDMX)

The team’s inclusion successful the NBA signaled a large displacement regarding Mexico’s viability arsenic a concern accidental for the world’s astir iconic sports brands. It highlighted caller possibilities for the ways successful which some U.S.-based and planetary sports leagues understood Mexico’s marketplace appeal. In the past decennary alone, the NFL, MLB, and F1 person each importantly expanded their efforts and made inroads successful Mexico, wherever each league has hosted events with expanding regularity to make an ongoing beingness with Mexican fans.

To date, however, lone the NBA has genuinely doubled down connected its Mexican investment by adding a fully-equipped Mexico City team. And to their credit, they person allowed the squad to clasp overmuch of its Latin American tone and identity, with the bulk of its players coming from each implicit Latin America and wrong Mexico — an uncommon show for a league that has lone ever seen six players of Mexican nationality successful its 79 years of existence.

Capitanes interruption G League attendance records

Despite navigating antecedently uncharted territory — which the managing manager for NBA Mexico, Raul Zarraga, admitted to ESPN was “a long, hard process” — the squad has stuck around. So, with the extremity of their proceedings play approaching quicker than a mid-court fastbreak, however precisely has the squad performed?

The Capitanes were contractually allotted a minimum of 5 years successful the NBA’s ranks, primitively slated to statesman successful 2020, but having been delayed owed to COVID. Unfortunately, the setback forced the squad to postpone their debut for 1 year, successful which they would yet relocate to Fort Worth, Texas, arsenic their impermanent location erstwhile the league resumed play successful 2021. The pursuing year, they would yet instrumentality to big their inaugural crippled successful Mexico City successful 2022, which broke G League attendance records.

Since then, Chilango fans person continued to shatter the NBA’s insignificant league attendance numbers, with 35,043 fans showing up for a two-game bid against the South Bay Lakers (the insignificant league typical of the ever-popular Los Angeles Lakers) successful 2024. As of this writing, the Capitanes person led the G League successful quantifiable metrics similar merchandise, summons income and instrumentality attendance. They’re besides recognized arsenic having avid fans successful the G League, often showcasing Mexico’s zealous passionateness (the squad formerly played wrong Gimnasio Olímpico Juan de la Barrera, an Olympic-era relic from 1968, earlier relocating to the state-of-the-art Arena CDMX connected the different broadside of the beastly megalopolis).

Fan acquisition successful Mexico City

Though the team’s authoritative logo is the Monumento a la Revolución, their mascot is simply a elephantine axolotl named Juanjolote. Their jerseys are colorful and snazzy, often highlighted with accepted Mexican touches and patterns (one of their much fashionable kits is simply a limited-edition piñata-themed colorway). Combined with the modern amenities of astir NBA arenas — to spell on with Mexicanized in-game amusement similar mini luchadores, mariachis, Mexican celebrities sitting courtside, and much — the wide instrumentality acquisition is dissimilar thing other successful the NBA stratosphere. And that unsocial is of worth to the league astatine large, which aspires to support a nonstop transportation with its Spanish-speaking assemblage crossed the border.

Mexico City Capitanes games connection a instrumentality acquisition dissimilar thing other successful the G League. (Capitanes CDMX)

On the court, the squad hasn’t won immoderate championships, nor person they outright dominated the competition. Even astatine their best, they’ve mostly been a middle-of-the-road squad successful a league that perpetually fluctuates owed to the quality of being a workplace strategy for the NBA (that is, players often get called up to play for the NBA’s flagship teams astatine assorted points successful the year, making the G League a fluid, shifting league).

Highlighting Mexican heritage

The areas successful which the squad has outright succeeded is successful highlighting its Mexican-heritage players: astir famously, Juan Toscano-Anderson, a erstwhile NBA Champion with the Golden State Warriors who played 2 seasons with the Capitanes aft his declaration expired successful the NBA’s large leagues. JTA, arsenic helium is known by fans, brought monolithic fanfare to the franchise during his time, helping to supply a seasoned legitimacy and winning acumen to the squad for a fewer years and elevating their presumption with his gameplay and instrumentality popularity. Outside of Mexican-blooded hoopers, determination person besides been recognizable NBA names similar Shabazz Napier and Kenneth Faried, arsenic good arsenic young, talented prospects from astir the satellite similar Brazil’s Bruno Caboclo and American precocious schooler Dink Pate, who has openly spoken astir his emotion for Mexico and its hoops fanatics.

Most recently, the squad signed Mexican nationalist squad guardant Gael Bonilla and Texcoco-born constituent defender Luis Andriassi to contracts, bolstering their Latino ranks. Their existent General Manager, Orlando Mendez-Valdez, is simply a erstwhile Capitanes subordinate himself and a Mexican American prima who chopped his teeth successful Mexico’s pro league arsenic a three-time champion and All-Star successful the LNBP. For his part, Mendez-Valdez has assembled possibly the astir competitory Capitanes squad to date.

As of this writing, the Mexico City squad is connected an 8 crippled triumph streak with a 10-2 record, and volition anticipation to marque a dash into the postseason and scope their archetypal NBA G League finals.

Will the Capitanes stay an NBA affiliate?

Regardless of this season’s outcome, it’s overwhelmingly wide that the Capitanes are Mexico’s favourite hoops squad and are shouldering the nation’s NBA aspirations. They’ve travel a agelong mode from their amateur-like days successful the LNBP, but person they done capable — some on- and off-the-court — to person the NBA of their value? Culturally, they’ve added a priceless magnitude to Mexico City’s sporting offerings. It’s yet to beryllium seen, though, if they’ll proceed to beryllium astir for aboriginal tip-offs arsenic an NBA affiliate successful the coming years. With league enlargement looming, Mexico City has positioned itself arsenic adjacent to the rim arsenic imaginable — and thing tin happen.

Alan Chazaro is the writer of “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album,” “Piñata Theory” and “Notes From the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021). He is simply a postgraduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People programme astatine UC Berkeley and a erstwhile Lawrence Ferlinghetti Fellow astatine the University of San Francisco. His penning tin beryllium recovered successful GQ, NPR, The Guardian, L.A. Times and more. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, helium is presently based successful Veracruz.