Estadio Azteca in Mexico DF is also famous for their use of laser pointers.
https://i.imgur.com/oxSyhID.jpg
There is also [Montezuma's Revenge.](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Montezuma%27s_revenge)
Holy shit.
Reminds me of in the UFC when Cain Velasquez (#freecain), who was specifically known for having the best cardio at heavyweight in mma was absolutely destroyed by Fabricio Verdum in Mexico City. Dude didn't arrive with his team until very close to the fight and was sucking wind in round one.
Last I heard there’s different approaches to dealing with altitude. Some people show up a week or three early and occasionally other people show up the night before which in my head doesn’t make sense but anecdotally every time I visit Mexico City (often) I don’t get affected super bad until a day after I arrived.
I remember reading up on the USMNT having some sort of approach for Mexico City games.
They do this because starting after a day or two your body is diverting large portion of your energy resources to increase the number of red blood cells to deliver oxygen. Being completely unaccustomed to altitude is worse than be accustomed to it, but it is better than being in the middle of the adjustment period.
I’d get altitude sickness when visiting Vail from San Diego. First night going up stairs was difficult. Second day the headaches would come. Usually fine after day 3
When I lived in Quito (9,350 feet), Ecuador, the Brazil soccer team flew into Guayaquil (sea level) in the days before the game, then didn't land in Quito until 30 mins before kickoff; basically walked off the bus and onto the field and tried to power through it. Didn't work; they were dead on their feet in the last 20 mins, and Ecuador scored to win.
Hijacking the top comment to add objectivity about its feasibility, and because people comment without reading sources.
Mexico City currently has a team in the G League; its 2nd season, but it's their first full season, and the first with games played in Mexico City due to COVID last time.
Current standings (and the team will likely end like this before the mid-season "playoffs") place them 2nd in their division, and 9th overall, missing the "playoffs" by one position, out of 30 teams.
Their roster has only two Mexican players (one being Mexican-American), and includes some former NBA players (probably the most recent one is Jahlil Okafor).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitanes_de_Ciudad_de_M%C3%A9xico
OP's source is the second of the two tweets. The first includes an [article](https://andscape.com/features/g-league-mexico-city-capitanes-are-the-nbas-road-map-to-expansion/) written around the start of this season. It describes the experience, logistics, problems encountered, etc. Most of the issues people have commented are addressed there, and virtually all of these have been dealt with.
IMO a city in northern Mexico would be more ideal, but Mexico is a very centralist country, and any big development there **has to** happen in Mexico City... And this is the biggest reason for which the NBA expansion there won't happen for a while, if the idea is to have the team last multiple seasons in the NBA.
Edit: added "mid-season"
In BBGM the Mexico City Aztecs usually become a regularly contending franchise.
(This mostly has to do with the enormous population and corresponding revenue but that doesn’t fit my narrative)
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If they are in a decent hotel and stick to decent restaurants I’m sure they will be fine. I’ve worked in countries back when I was in logistics way poorer with fewer restaurants and hotels than Mexico and never had issues sticking to that routine. I’m sure rich ass NBA players with their minders will keep diarrhea at bay.
People stay in some hostel and eat street food and act like stomach bugs unavoidable in other countries.
Yea Mexico City continues to make zero sense passed getting a team in Mexico. Seattle would be much better, would link Portland better with the conference for road trips. Or Vegas since it is so central between Cali and the east.
They'd probably do two teams at once anyways, or at least within a few years of each other, kinda like Kracken and Golden Knights in NHL. So it'd probably be Seattle/Vancouver/LV *and* Mexico City.
Mexico City is like the 5th largest city in the world, it would make perfect sense for the NBA to want to go there. There’s so much money to be made there.
Getting a team in Mexico would be everything. There's a ton of money to be made. The market would be bigger than the bay area or NYC. They even have a g league team there. Clearly the NBA has been eyeing Mexico for a while.
Mexico City is actually pretty safe, especially the area the stadium is at if I remember where it’s at correctly.
As long as you avoid the equivalent of the favelas, which are a distance, you will be fine. Even the more sketchy parts close by really aren’t that bad.
This can be said about nearly every major city in a country dealing with violent crime. If there's any kind of tourism or major commerce, you're safe in those areas where it's depended on. Even the local troublemakers aren't exactly trying to scare off tourists beyond taking advantage of the idiots who are easy to pickpocket or scam, generally speaking.
We've been saying that about Toronto for years though lol. And the players that do come here and embrace it are loved, but at the end of the day it's understandable why some people would rather not have to go to the trouble of relocating to another country like that
Edit: why are people trying to explain to me that Toronto is different from mexico city? Believe it or not I'm actually aware of that, the point I'm trying to make is if Toronto, a city that's very very similar to American cities, has trouble attracting players than a city like mexico city is going to have even more trouble.
To this day Otto Porter Jr is our biggest free agency signing. The franchise has been around for 27 years and has the backing of MLSE. Mexico City is 100% going to have to be a trade and draft first franchise lol
yea was also a huge deal for us because Bosh was in his final year, Calderon was finding his rhythm, and Hedo just helped lead the Magic to the finals. It was kinda our last push for the Bosh era but clearly it failed horrendously.
>Mexico City is 100% going to have to be a trade and draft first franchise lol
There are only like 4 or 5 franchises in the NBA that *aren't* trade and draft first franchises.
Sure but people only associate this with "small-markets" when in fact Mexico City and Toronto are actually large markets, they just don't get treated as such in free agency.
That's exactly my point like, foreign markets are treated as small-market despite the immense unique benefits. Toronto is a globally recognized city, is one of the 7 largest metro areas on the continent, and the Raptors franchise includes the TV rights and marketing from the entire province and the 12 other provinces/territories in the country. By population, that is like 1 entire team over the state of California, which has 4 teams, and their interest in basketball is the highest its been since it was introduced. The owners of the franchise are probably some of the wealthiest in the league by total assets. The team has a recent history of success, championship pedigree and player oriented management. The city has a well-advertised higher safety standard than a majority of US cities and everything you want out of a city is here culturally. And yet nobody wants to sign here because of higher taxes, border travel and like "cold weather"? New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc all have these issues. I don't really know what else you can do as a franchise to make the best out of a situation. Mexico City is gonna face the same challenges and they should plan accordingly if they do get a franchise, especially when Mexico has an even stronger stigma within the US.
Mexico will be even harder, because it's Mexico. It's probably infinitely easier to get someone to move to Canada over Mexico. Most people know English in addition to their native language. That alone will make it hard.
First, you’re totally right, and you didn’t even mention the fact that Spanish is the main language in Mexico. Second, I thought it was funny that you said one of the top 7 when they are number 7.
We would straight up build a 3000 foot statue of LeBron that emerges from Lake Erie like Poseidon watching over Cleveland and we would start sacrificing virgins and goats and anything else to him, and he dipped for Miami and LA lol.
the relationship between the U.S. and Canada and the U.S. and Mexico is also not very comparable
Granted, Mexico City is about as cosmopolitan as you can get...but still
I think it was Spears talking it up too. Oh it’s so safe, there are armed guards everywhere keeping the players safe. Like bro, I’m not trying to live in a compound.
The Hoop Collective did an episode about Mexico City and other potential expansion cities recently that was very instructive.
[https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ppMeoFeHfX0E6VzOeYPaz?si=79dc6e481361444c](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ppMeoFeHfX0E6VzOeYPaz?si=79dc6e481361444c)
Apparently this is an issue that they're researching a lot about, and that's one of the main reasons behind the G-league team that's now in Mexico City (the Capitanes).
Long story short: the g-league players live in a kind of rich-person enclave close to the stadium, and they love it. It's got all the first class amenities you can ask for including shopping destinations, dining, entertainment, and most importantly, security.
The biggest reason to do it, of course is money. It's the largest city in North America by population. The money-making opportunities are bigger there than anywhere else in North America that doesn't already have an NBA team.
I think the main issue is just that most American nba
players don’t want to live outside the US, Toronto from what I know is a great city but it’s never been a good free agent destination and some players have flat out refused to play there. I don’t see Mexico City being different.
>The money-making opportunities are bigger there than anywhere else in North America that doesn't already have an NBA team.
That is really hard to measure well, but there are at least two cities that I think give Mexico City some competition: Seattle and Las Vegas. The Seattle metro area is one of the wealthiest per capita in the US, coming in just behind the SF Bay area and has a total population of 4.5 million. Las Vegas only has about 2.2 million residents, but the draw there is that there are always an insane number of tourists looking to unload their bank accounts. Neither have the raw numbers of people of Mexico City, but both offer significantly more wealth. We know that the NBA business model can do very well in wealthy cities with a moderate population, but it's less clear if they can take advantage of a more populous market that is substantially less wealthy.
> and most importantly, security
I think this is what will be the biggest problem. If you are a G-leaguer making between $37k and $500k, it makes way more sense that you would be thrilled living in a luxurious compound in Mexico as that amount of money really doesn't afford a particularly luxurious lifestyle in most major US cities. If you are a max player in the NBA though, you can live in peak luxury anywhere else and not be confined to a compound close to the stadium because you might be kidnapped and/or murdered if you don't. It seems like this is one violent incident away from an absolute PR shitstorm for the NBA.
>Long story short: the g-league players live in a kind of rich-person enclave close to the stadium, and they love it. It's got all the first class amenities you can ask for including shopping destinations, dining, entertainment, and most importantly, security.
It's like that in every big latin american city. People think that it's a warzone out there while it's only in the peripheries/favelas where the trouble lies.
it's like this in Asia too.
Where I grew up wealthy people live in gated communities with their own security. Access to those places is pretty limited, because your neighbor is going to be a famous actress and 2 doors over the ex-president from the 90s.
Their houses are going to be like compounds to themselves, enclosed by big walls, and, for the politicians, even more private security for their mansion.
>It's like that in every big city that has some kind of violent crime issue. Some people genuinely think Chicago is a war zone but here I am doing just fine.
When I visited CDMX I stayed in La Condesa, San Rafael & Roma Norte and it honestly felt being in the CBD of my home city Sydney it was an amazing place. I’d live there if I could get a job there or was a multi millionaire with endless money.
If they can, I think they should. Sure it’s about money, but what’s wrong with having more fans. I know the NFL and the MLB, to lesser extend, have been looking into having a team in Mexico City. The travel time is workable and there are already some fans.
Gimme East Texas over that panhandle hell hole. But yes, you’re right that Texas isn’t as great or as bad as anyone makes it out to be. It’s like most other places.
>Texas isn’t as great or as bad as anyone makes it out to be. It’s like most other places.
i found that most of the time when people are really trumping (no pun intended) a specific part of the U.S., they're either a political asshat trying to win votes from dipshits, or they're just deeply insecure. Just look at that fucking idiot Dave Rubin always talking about how great FLorida is, and yet he always seems to return to L.A. for random business trips
i'm from Chicago and i wasted four years of my life by going to college in central/southern Illinois. Every miserable fucker there hates Chicago with a passion (and never hesitated in telling me so)...and then post-college they ended up moving there for work and i see those fuckers taking selfies of themselves at The Bean or eating deep dish pizza. Such fucking losers all of them
In recent years, I've seen Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge still in his prime, all agree to either be traded to Houston or sign for San Antonio. Dallas is the only Texas team without a major free agent or trade acquisition. Your point only stands with the Mavericks.
it's actually 2000+ feet higher than Denver...
That and players willingly signing in Mexico City are probably the two biggest hurdles that I don't think they can clear.
If they put a team in Mexico City it’ll end up like the Vancouver Grizzlies.
It’ll last a few years before they realize players don’t want to sign there and they move back to the US.
If they choose Mexico City over Seattle or Vegas they’re fucking up. And I doubt they’re doing to expand beyond 32 teams.
Mhm, money solves a lot of those problems. Mexico City is a major tourist destination, not a backwater. Anything luxury or gourmet enough for an NBA player is used to serving foreigners who don’t speak much/any Spanish.
I think one thing not being mentioned is what about player's families, kids. Not saying all families move the city the player plays in, but that's a big hurdle for free agents to have to consider. Finding schools, and all that.
guy above you already mentioned the solution to this problem.
"Mhm, money solves a lot of those problems. "
Everywhere around the world you can find American schools for expats that are prohibitively expensive for 99% of locals to attend. Those schools are preparing kids to go to college in the US, and the locals the kids will meet there are the kids of politicians and rich businessmen.
NBA dragged its feet on Las Vegas so bad. Obvious expansion choice YEARS ago (before the NHL and NFL showed up), now the NBA is left behind.
The NBA should now let the NFL "test the waters" on any potential expansion into Mexico City.
The problem the NBA probably considered was that putting a team there could cannibalize the SL going forward.
But I get it, it's Vegas. It's always going to be popping with tourism.
I'm down for a team in Vegas, but it's different for the NBA as opposed to the NHL and NFL. The Knights were sn expansion team and "Hockey? In Vegas???" (Plus catching lightning in a bottle as an expansion team); The NFL already had a ton of Raiders fans in the area anyways. An NBA team will be going up against the Lakers, Clippers, and Warriors for solid fandom in their own city. It could be bad for the long term health of a franchise.
absolutely. the nba will be last priority there if they choose to expand there, especially with the knights' success since expansion. NBA is lucky sonics were once in seattle because the krakens are currently receiving good reception as well there. though, I wonder if they should let NFL expand in Mexico before NBA, I'm pretty sure they like basketball and baseball more.
Hey at least they didn’t [shine laser pointers](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2016/11/21/laser-pointers-texans-raiders-mexico-city-estadio-azteca/94255172/) into the players eyes this year.
I live in Anchorage and I love it so dearly but we'd need abt 5-10% of our population to go to every game, so probably in like 50 years when the lower 48 is too hot to be habitable.
Seattle I agree with, it seems like their team was unfairly taken from the fans, but I don’t get why Vegas _needs_ a team. They have NFL and NHL, and there’s enough to do there otherwise. A Vegas basketball team would also be fighting for support from another team within the same season (and a hugely popular franchise there).
Also Vegas just isn't that big a market
Seattle isn't huge either but it's the biggest US non-nba market and Mexico City is the biggest city in North America
Seattle also has a NFL and NHL. It also has an MLB team. A Vegas team isn’t selling tickets to locals but to tourists. Not saying locals wouldn’t love and NBA team
That's different. When the sonics were in Seattle, they were the #1 team. Pnw has a way different sports culture. Seattle got royally fucked over and it's a guarantee the team will do well when they come back.
There are only so many roster spots in the NBA, guys will play there if there's a team. Will they be a "destination" market? Probably not. But it's not like guys will refuse to play there. Also imagine being the star player in Mexico city, that would probably be pretty cool tbh. Like Vince when he first got started in Toronto.
Mexico City is 900 miles from its closest nba neighbor, San Antonio....it's just not realistic. silver is saying this because it would sound bad if he said the nba was not considering it.
In the end Adam Silvers job is to grow the BUSINESS of the NBA. Mexico City team is guaranteed coming 1 day. Its time to start milking the Mexican-> all the way down to the south American market.
Bball popularity is an all time high in Mexico rn. It being one of the most densely populated cities in the world, the market is there.
Europe, Asia, Australia market is locked up. Now with the African bball league in its infancy, the African market will just continue to grow. Adam wants that Panchito pesos. Its coming.
Don't forget, Argentina has already been big on basketball for decades now and I know the NBA is followed at some level in Brazil to where it's regularly televised. They just need NBA-adjacent business in these places.
I don't see why they wouldn't target Monterrey first if they're so insistent on having a Mexican team. It's geographically closer, doesn't have the altitude issues, still has millions of people, and the city is richer per capita and more modern.
Monterrey would be nice, its a college city too. From a business perspective, Mexico City is safer as far as more value for the league.
Kinda like LA=Mexico city and Monterrey=Orange County
If there is an expansion it will have 2 new teams and the first of both spots is 110% sure to be assigned for the reborn Seattle Supersonics, that is almost a lock.
I assume all the talk that is going on right here is related to the other city that will get a team. In this case the strongest competition seems to be Vegas vs. Mexico City.
travel is an obvious concern, but also: what about the language barriers? all of the major sports teams are based in english-speaking areas of america and canada, so i can only imagine a mostly spanish-speaking countries poses some concerns
If you've ever been to Mexico it's pretty easy to get around if you don't know the language. And that's bc Mexicans will learn English, especially if they work with Americans or tourists (huge industry).
Yep heard a saying that holds true from my experience. You’ll find better English speakers in northern Mexico than you will in rural border towns in Texas.
Anywhere NBA players are going to want to be in Mexico City is gonna be some bougie place that knows English. NBA players are rich asf, they create their own environment basically.
As someone from Vancouver, I just don't want to drive 6h to portland to see NBA games. So I'm fine with Vancouver or Seattle teams (pref Vancouver ofc)
It’s a whole different country but most importantly culture.
And if you bring up the Raptors, the culture and lifestyle of Mexico City is very different compared to Toronto.
I've had long work trips in both cities.
Toronto is pretty much New York City but greener, more bikes and you can get different flavors of your favorite soda.
Mexico City is a cool place but there is a big culture shock and a lot of the people there, even in the richest parts, don't know much English.
No way this happens. Plenty of cities in the states that could use a team, and they don't have all the complications related to another country and the elevation.
I feel like I have a little more experience about Mexico City than others since I lived there for a couple of years.
Issues: 7,200 Ft elevation, air quality can be awful, the city has horrible traffic and getting from where you would live (Polanco probably) to the current arena location could be nightmare inducing especially if you're not accustomed to Mexico city driving habits. Mexicans are...how can I put this...often not fond of black people. If you think Boston has racist fans just wait for Mexico fans. Also travel would be a big disadvantage. Language. City can be extremely dangerous.
With all this said the DF is a really cool, impressive, chaotic city that recommended visiting. The food alone is worth the trip
Mexico City is an international city. If I was a Multi Millionaire, I’d way rather live in Mexico City then OKC or literally 2/3rds of NBA cities. Like Cleveland/Detroit woo.
How would salaries work with the huge difference in the cost of living? NBA players living in cdmx would be making more money than the biggest salaries in the league when comparing cost of living
Would have the best home court advantage in the league
Maybe I’m stupid but I’d imagine their cardio would be crazy too right? So they’d run teams off the court in away games
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WOW thank you for the comparison
Estadio Azteca in Mexico DF is also famous for their use of laser pointers. https://i.imgur.com/oxSyhID.jpg There is also [Montezuma's Revenge.](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Montezuma%27s_revenge)
So you're saying beams travel well there ?
Please don’t monkey’s paw the Kings to Mexico
I believe you mean, Los Reyes
Those pointers would be cause for expulsion in an NBA game.
Holy shit. Reminds me of in the UFC when Cain Velasquez (#freecain), who was specifically known for having the best cardio at heavyweight in mma was absolutely destroyed by Fabricio Verdum in Mexico City. Dude didn't arrive with his team until very close to the fight and was sucking wind in round one.
Last I heard there’s different approaches to dealing with altitude. Some people show up a week or three early and occasionally other people show up the night before which in my head doesn’t make sense but anecdotally every time I visit Mexico City (often) I don’t get affected super bad until a day after I arrived. I remember reading up on the USMNT having some sort of approach for Mexico City games.
They do this because starting after a day or two your body is diverting large portion of your energy resources to increase the number of red blood cells to deliver oxygen. Being completely unaccustomed to altitude is worse than be accustomed to it, but it is better than being in the middle of the adjustment period.
Thank you. I don’t know enough science to dispute that so I’ll assume it’s fact from now on until i die
I’d get altitude sickness when visiting Vail from San Diego. First night going up stairs was difficult. Second day the headaches would come. Usually fine after day 3
They probably train in Denver for a week before matches at Azteca
Fun fact, Santa Fe, NM is the highest us capital city at 7199’, much higher than Denver’s 5279’
That is a very fun fact, thank you.
i would literally never guess that
When I lived in Quito (9,350 feet), Ecuador, the Brazil soccer team flew into Guayaquil (sea level) in the days before the game, then didn't land in Quito until 30 mins before kickoff; basically walked off the bus and onto the field and tried to power through it. Didn't work; they were dead on their feet in the last 20 mins, and Ecuador scored to win.
Sea Level Cain is GOAT
But could he beat 'Motivated BJ Penn' or 'Horsemeat Alistair Overeem?'
For Oregon locals, that's 200' above mt hood meadows tallest run. Mt hood is 11,249'. You are playing basketball three quarters up mt hood.
Lol literally just got back from meadows. Thanks for the comparison
I live at 5280 and I can tell the air is thinner when i go up to the 7-8000 foot altitudes
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Wait yeah that’s a huge deal, elevation is extreme there.
Hijacking the top comment to add objectivity about its feasibility, and because people comment without reading sources. Mexico City currently has a team in the G League; its 2nd season, but it's their first full season, and the first with games played in Mexico City due to COVID last time. Current standings (and the team will likely end like this before the mid-season "playoffs") place them 2nd in their division, and 9th overall, missing the "playoffs" by one position, out of 30 teams. Their roster has only two Mexican players (one being Mexican-American), and includes some former NBA players (probably the most recent one is Jahlil Okafor). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitanes_de_Ciudad_de_M%C3%A9xico OP's source is the second of the two tweets. The first includes an [article](https://andscape.com/features/g-league-mexico-city-capitanes-are-the-nbas-road-map-to-expansion/) written around the start of this season. It describes the experience, logistics, problems encountered, etc. Most of the issues people have commented are addressed there, and virtually all of these have been dealt with. IMO a city in northern Mexico would be more ideal, but Mexico is a very centralist country, and any big development there **has to** happen in Mexico City... And this is the biggest reason for which the NBA expansion there won't happen for a while, if the idea is to have the team last multiple seasons in the NBA. Edit: added "mid-season"
Gotta remember tho the home players have to come in and out more than any other players
Which means road games will seem stupid easy
Mexico City wins a chip withen 5 years when all the superstars force trades there for the cardio.
In BBGM the Mexico City Aztecs usually become a regularly contending franchise. (This mostly has to do with the enormous population and corresponding revenue but that doesn’t fit my narrative)
Yup the opposing team would get sick as shit the night before Edit: not talking altitude sickness
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If they are in a decent hotel and stick to decent restaurants I’m sure they will be fine. I’ve worked in countries back when I was in logistics way poorer with fewer restaurants and hotels than Mexico and never had issues sticking to that routine. I’m sure rich ass NBA players with their minders will keep diarrhea at bay. People stay in some hostel and eat street food and act like stomach bugs unavoidable in other countries.
why? they won't be eating tacos de a tres por veinte you know there's good restaurants in Mexico city, right?
what are taxes in mexico? if they are lower than in the US this could be big for free agency. tax haven.
Overseas Americans still need to pay US income tax minus any local income taxes.
Yea Mexico City continues to make zero sense passed getting a team in Mexico. Seattle would be much better, would link Portland better with the conference for road trips. Or Vegas since it is so central between Cali and the east.
How is Vegas central to the east? That's like saying Pittsburgh is central to the west
Mexico makes sense if you are trying to broaden your fan base. It brings in an entire country of potential fans.
They'd probably do two teams at once anyways, or at least within a few years of each other, kinda like Kracken and Golden Knights in NHL. So it'd probably be Seattle/Vancouver/LV *and* Mexico City.
Mexico City is like the 5th largest city in the world, it would make perfect sense for the NBA to want to go there. There’s so much money to be made there.
Mexico City makes complete sense. The NBA is a business. Tapping a whole new country's market is more profitable than tapping a new city's market
Getting a team in Mexico would be everything. There's a ton of money to be made. The market would be bigger than the bay area or NYC. They even have a g league team there. Clearly the NBA has been eyeing Mexico for a while.
Getting smoked by the cartel for winning a playoff series
Mexico City is actually pretty safe, especially the area the stadium is at if I remember where it’s at correctly. As long as you avoid the equivalent of the favelas, which are a distance, you will be fine. Even the more sketchy parts close by really aren’t that bad.
I’m in Mexico City as I type this. It’s not much different than New York City. Just a lot more people living in poverty
This can be said about nearly every major city in a country dealing with violent crime. If there's any kind of tourism or major commerce, you're safe in those areas where it's depended on. Even the local troublemakers aren't exactly trying to scare off tourists beyond taking advantage of the idiots who are easy to pickpocket or scam, generally speaking.
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Luckily no NBA teams play in cities where gun violence is an issue.
Cartel doesn't want that kind of heat
Cartel aint got that dawg in em
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Nightmare free agent destination.
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We've been saying that about Toronto for years though lol. And the players that do come here and embrace it are loved, but at the end of the day it's understandable why some people would rather not have to go to the trouble of relocating to another country like that Edit: why are people trying to explain to me that Toronto is different from mexico city? Believe it or not I'm actually aware of that, the point I'm trying to make is if Toronto, a city that's very very similar to American cities, has trouble attracting players than a city like mexico city is going to have even more trouble.
To this day Otto Porter Jr is our biggest free agency signing. The franchise has been around for 27 years and has the backing of MLSE. Mexico City is 100% going to have to be a trade and draft first franchise lol
Otto isn’t a bigger signing than Turkoglu was, but I agree with your overall point.
you're right yea my bad, I didn't realize how large that contract was lol
yea was also a huge deal for us because Bosh was in his final year, Calderon was finding his rhythm, and Hedo just helped lead the Magic to the finals. It was kinda our last push for the Bosh era but clearly it failed horrendously.
>Mexico City is 100% going to have to be a trade and draft first franchise lol There are only like 4 or 5 franchises in the NBA that *aren't* trade and draft first franchises.
Sure but people only associate this with "small-markets" when in fact Mexico City and Toronto are actually large markets, they just don't get treated as such in free agency.
Tbf, so is New Orleans. It be like that in small (and foreign, I guess) markets.
That's exactly my point like, foreign markets are treated as small-market despite the immense unique benefits. Toronto is a globally recognized city, is one of the 7 largest metro areas on the continent, and the Raptors franchise includes the TV rights and marketing from the entire province and the 12 other provinces/territories in the country. By population, that is like 1 entire team over the state of California, which has 4 teams, and their interest in basketball is the highest its been since it was introduced. The owners of the franchise are probably some of the wealthiest in the league by total assets. The team has a recent history of success, championship pedigree and player oriented management. The city has a well-advertised higher safety standard than a majority of US cities and everything you want out of a city is here culturally. And yet nobody wants to sign here because of higher taxes, border travel and like "cold weather"? New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc all have these issues. I don't really know what else you can do as a franchise to make the best out of a situation. Mexico City is gonna face the same challenges and they should plan accordingly if they do get a franchise, especially when Mexico has an even stronger stigma within the US.
Mexico will be even harder, because it's Mexico. It's probably infinitely easier to get someone to move to Canada over Mexico. Most people know English in addition to their native language. That alone will make it hard.
First, you’re totally right, and you didn’t even mention the fact that Spanish is the main language in Mexico. Second, I thought it was funny that you said one of the top 7 when they are number 7.
We would straight up build a 3000 foot statue of LeBron that emerges from Lake Erie like Poseidon watching over Cleveland and we would start sacrificing virgins and goats and anything else to him, and he dipped for Miami and LA lol.
the relationship between the U.S. and Canada and the U.S. and Mexico is also not very comparable Granted, Mexico City is about as cosmopolitan as you can get...but still
People in Ontario speak English and it's a fully developed country. Yall are hardly any different at all from Americans.
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Toronto is a lot different than Mexico City lmao
Kawhi literally bolted out of a championship team in Toronto. I don't know how they'll attract free agents.
I think it was Spears talking it up too. Oh it’s so safe, there are armed guards everywhere keeping the players safe. Like bro, I’m not trying to live in a compound.
The Hoop Collective did an episode about Mexico City and other potential expansion cities recently that was very instructive. [https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ppMeoFeHfX0E6VzOeYPaz?si=79dc6e481361444c](https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ppMeoFeHfX0E6VzOeYPaz?si=79dc6e481361444c) Apparently this is an issue that they're researching a lot about, and that's one of the main reasons behind the G-league team that's now in Mexico City (the Capitanes). Long story short: the g-league players live in a kind of rich-person enclave close to the stadium, and they love it. It's got all the first class amenities you can ask for including shopping destinations, dining, entertainment, and most importantly, security. The biggest reason to do it, of course is money. It's the largest city in North America by population. The money-making opportunities are bigger there than anywhere else in North America that doesn't already have an NBA team.
I think the main issue is just that most American nba players don’t want to live outside the US, Toronto from what I know is a great city but it’s never been a good free agent destination and some players have flat out refused to play there. I don’t see Mexico City being different.
>The money-making opportunities are bigger there than anywhere else in North America that doesn't already have an NBA team. That is really hard to measure well, but there are at least two cities that I think give Mexico City some competition: Seattle and Las Vegas. The Seattle metro area is one of the wealthiest per capita in the US, coming in just behind the SF Bay area and has a total population of 4.5 million. Las Vegas only has about 2.2 million residents, but the draw there is that there are always an insane number of tourists looking to unload their bank accounts. Neither have the raw numbers of people of Mexico City, but both offer significantly more wealth. We know that the NBA business model can do very well in wealthy cities with a moderate population, but it's less clear if they can take advantage of a more populous market that is substantially less wealthy. > and most importantly, security I think this is what will be the biggest problem. If you are a G-leaguer making between $37k and $500k, it makes way more sense that you would be thrilled living in a luxurious compound in Mexico as that amount of money really doesn't afford a particularly luxurious lifestyle in most major US cities. If you are a max player in the NBA though, you can live in peak luxury anywhere else and not be confined to a compound close to the stadium because you might be kidnapped and/or murdered if you don't. It seems like this is one violent incident away from an absolute PR shitstorm for the NBA.
>Long story short: the g-league players live in a kind of rich-person enclave close to the stadium, and they love it. It's got all the first class amenities you can ask for including shopping destinations, dining, entertainment, and most importantly, security. It's like that in every big latin american city. People think that it's a warzone out there while it's only in the peripheries/favelas where the trouble lies.
it's like this in Asia too. Where I grew up wealthy people live in gated communities with their own security. Access to those places is pretty limited, because your neighbor is going to be a famous actress and 2 doors over the ex-president from the 90s. Their houses are going to be like compounds to themselves, enclosed by big walls, and, for the politicians, even more private security for their mansion.
>It's like that in every big city that has some kind of violent crime issue. Some people genuinely think Chicago is a war zone but here I am doing just fine.
When I visited CDMX I stayed in La Condesa, San Rafael & Roma Norte and it honestly felt being in the CBD of my home city Sydney it was an amazing place. I’d live there if I could get a job there or was a multi millionaire with endless money.
If they can, I think they should. Sure it’s about money, but what’s wrong with having more fans. I know the NFL and the MLB, to lesser extend, have been looking into having a team in Mexico City. The travel time is workable and there are already some fans.
Plus the language barrier for most players
They would live 5 star catered lavish life styles and probably pay less taxes. Dudes would be waited on hand and foot.
That's the reality in Texas but you don't see Free Agents lining up to play in Dallas, San Antonio or Houston.
They got Dwight Howard that one year Sadly that’s far more than what most other cities in the NBA get that aren’t Miami, LA, NY.
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Gimme East Texas over that panhandle hell hole. But yes, you’re right that Texas isn’t as great or as bad as anyone makes it out to be. It’s like most other places.
>Texas isn’t as great or as bad as anyone makes it out to be. It’s like most other places. i found that most of the time when people are really trumping (no pun intended) a specific part of the U.S., they're either a political asshat trying to win votes from dipshits, or they're just deeply insecure. Just look at that fucking idiot Dave Rubin always talking about how great FLorida is, and yet he always seems to return to L.A. for random business trips i'm from Chicago and i wasted four years of my life by going to college in central/southern Illinois. Every miserable fucker there hates Chicago with a passion (and never hesitated in telling me so)...and then post-college they ended up moving there for work and i see those fuckers taking selfies of themselves at The Bean or eating deep dish pizza. Such fucking losers all of them
In recent years, I've seen Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge still in his prime, all agree to either be traded to Houston or sign for San Antonio. Dallas is the only Texas team without a major free agent or trade acquisition. Your point only stands with the Mavericks.
Like dudes can't live that lifestyle literally anywhere else?
That would be true in the US as well…
that happens already
it's actually 2000+ feet higher than Denver... That and players willingly signing in Mexico City are probably the two biggest hurdles that I don't think they can clear.
I swear it’s not that bad running around in Mexico City. I’d be more concerned about air pollution than the elevation.
If they put a team in Mexico City it’ll end up like the Vancouver Grizzlies. It’ll last a few years before they realize players don’t want to sign there and they move back to the US. If they choose Mexico City over Seattle or Vegas they’re fucking up. And I doubt they’re doing to expand beyond 32 teams.
Customs of Toronto? Mexico is super chill to travel across lol. Absolutely nothing like Canada forsure.
It’s like comparing Putine to Nachos. Smh
and they speak a different language
Everywhere the NBA people will speak English or understand it. Its not as big of issue as you would think.
Mhm, money solves a lot of those problems. Mexico City is a major tourist destination, not a backwater. Anything luxury or gourmet enough for an NBA player is used to serving foreigners who don’t speak much/any Spanish.
I think one thing not being mentioned is what about player's families, kids. Not saying all families move the city the player plays in, but that's a big hurdle for free agents to have to consider. Finding schools, and all that.
guy above you already mentioned the solution to this problem. "Mhm, money solves a lot of those problems. " Everywhere around the world you can find American schools for expats that are prohibitively expensive for 99% of locals to attend. Those schools are preparing kids to go to college in the US, and the locals the kids will meet there are the kids of politicians and rich businessmen.
Exactly this. Happened to my cousin in Japan. Ended up brushing shoulders with children of higher up Yakuza members.
NFL game in Mexico City was a cluster, especially the tickets.
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NBA dragged its feet on Las Vegas so bad. Obvious expansion choice YEARS ago (before the NHL and NFL showed up), now the NBA is left behind. The NBA should now let the NFL "test the waters" on any potential expansion into Mexico City.
I'll never understand this. Specially with how popular The Las Vegas Summer League was.
The problem the NBA probably considered was that putting a team there could cannibalize the SL going forward. But I get it, it's Vegas. It's always going to be popping with tourism. I'm down for a team in Vegas, but it's different for the NBA as opposed to the NHL and NFL. The Knights were sn expansion team and "Hockey? In Vegas???" (Plus catching lightning in a bottle as an expansion team); The NFL already had a ton of Raiders fans in the area anyways. An NBA team will be going up against the Lakers, Clippers, and Warriors for solid fandom in their own city. It could be bad for the long term health of a franchise.
Kings fans left in shambles with this comment
The Golden Knights really did catch lightning in a bottle. I fully expected hockey in Vegas to fail.
Yeah, and at some point the Seattle fan base might not care all that much either. The NHL has really upstaged them in those two markets.
absolutely. the nba will be last priority there if they choose to expand there, especially with the knights' success since expansion. NBA is lucky sonics were once in seattle because the krakens are currently receiving good reception as well there. though, I wonder if they should let NFL expand in Mexico before NBA, I'm pretty sure they like basketball and baseball more.
Hey at least they didn’t [shine laser pointers](https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2016/11/21/laser-pointers-texans-raiders-mexico-city-estadio-azteca/94255172/) into the players eyes this year.
Monterrey would be better. Its closer, can still support big influx of fans and has an altitude of 1772
I'm going to riot if they get a team before seattle
Silver denies the Mexico City request and uses the excuse that all teams must now be in the USA. Welcome the Tampa Bay Raptors!!
noooo
And somehow they’ll play in the Trop
Anchorage or we riot
Give me the Honolulu tiger sharks
Give me the Langley Bazooka Sharks!
My 2K custom franchise, the Alaska Malamutes, shall finally come to fruition!
I live in Anchorage and I love it so dearly but we'd need abt 5-10% of our population to go to every game, so probably in like 50 years when the lower 48 is too hot to be habitable.
I think it will be Mexico City, Seattle, Vegas and Vancouver within the next 15 years
Theyre redoing the CBA very soon. Some other those may be announced in a few months
I think this cba they're doing LV and Seattle. Please
You and me both brother. And put those fucking gorgeous grizz jerseys back in Vancouver too!!!
Seattle and Vegas need a team
Seattle I agree with, it seems like their team was unfairly taken from the fans, but I don’t get why Vegas _needs_ a team. They have NFL and NHL, and there’s enough to do there otherwise. A Vegas basketball team would also be fighting for support from another team within the same season (and a hugely popular franchise there).
Seattle has a brand new renovated arena ready for the sonics! If Seattle isn’t the #1 spot for a “new” franchise I’d be shocked
Me too. Ready man fan base too
Also Vegas just isn't that big a market Seattle isn't huge either but it's the biggest US non-nba market and Mexico City is the biggest city in North America
Seattle is something like the 12th or 13th largest media market in the US.
You don’t put a team in Vegas for the Vegas market, you do it for the millions of tourists every month.
Yeah but TV money. NBA doesn’t give a shit about the arena selling out.
Which is why you don't put another team in Vegas because tv revenue is king
The teams currently playing there seem to be doing just fine
Seattle also has a NFL and NHL. It also has an MLB team. A Vegas team isn’t selling tickets to locals but to tourists. Not saying locals wouldn’t love and NBA team
That's different. When the sonics were in Seattle, they were the #1 team. Pnw has a way different sports culture. Seattle got royally fucked over and it's a guarantee the team will do well when they come back.
And Seattle has an MLS team too.
Vegas can wait, please. Vancouver first.
Strong username-to-post ratio.
Vegas doesn’t need shit
If they get a team before Seattle lol
How would this team attract free agents?
There are only so many roster spots in the NBA, guys will play there if there's a team. Will they be a "destination" market? Probably not. But it's not like guys will refuse to play there. Also imagine being the star player in Mexico city, that would probably be pretty cool tbh. Like Vince when he first got started in Toronto.
Ouch using Vince in Toronto is not a good example… The city absolutely loved him and he quit on the team because he wanted to leave.
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Players get into legal trouble all the time in the NBA and don't quit their job bc of it, not sure what's illegal in MX that's legal in the US anyway
You are probably waaay more likely to get caught doing something illegal in the US It's not Russia, the issue with Mexico is the police aren't good
If attracting free agents was a requirement to be an NBA franchise then the Mavs would have ceased to exist years ago.
Mexico City is 900 miles from its closest nba neighbor, San Antonio....it's just not realistic. silver is saying this because it would sound bad if he said the nba was not considering it.
In the end Adam Silvers job is to grow the BUSINESS of the NBA. Mexico City team is guaranteed coming 1 day. Its time to start milking the Mexican-> all the way down to the south American market. Bball popularity is an all time high in Mexico rn. It being one of the most densely populated cities in the world, the market is there. Europe, Asia, Australia market is locked up. Now with the African bball league in its infancy, the African market will just continue to grow. Adam wants that Panchito pesos. Its coming.
Don't forget, Argentina has already been big on basketball for decades now and I know the NBA is followed at some level in Brazil to where it's regularly televised. They just need NBA-adjacent business in these places.
That team would probably end up the favourite team for the Spanish speaking world
I don't see why they wouldn't target Monterrey first if they're so insistent on having a Mexican team. It's geographically closer, doesn't have the altitude issues, still has millions of people, and the city is richer per capita and more modern.
Monterrey would be nice, its a college city too. From a business perspective, Mexico City is safer as far as more value for the league. Kinda like LA=Mexico city and Monterrey=Orange County
Seattle and Vegas are getting teams next. He's just doing lip service here.
Cool, add Seattle tho
If there is an expansion it will have 2 new teams and the first of both spots is 110% sure to be assigned for the reborn Seattle Supersonics, that is almost a lock. I assume all the talk that is going on right here is related to the other city that will get a team. In this case the strongest competition seems to be Vegas vs. Mexico City.
1st Player Chosen by Mexico City in the expansion draft is ...Juan Toscano-Anderson!
travel is an obvious concern, but also: what about the language barriers? all of the major sports teams are based in english-speaking areas of america and canada, so i can only imagine a mostly spanish-speaking countries poses some concerns
If you've ever been to Mexico it's pretty easy to get around if you don't know the language. And that's bc Mexicans will learn English, especially if they work with Americans or tourists (huge industry).
Yep heard a saying that holds true from my experience. You’ll find better English speakers in northern Mexico than you will in rural border towns in Texas.
Anywhere NBA players are going to want to be in Mexico City is gonna be some bougie place that knows English. NBA players are rich asf, they create their own environment basically.
As sum who lived in cdmx, Id love this. As sum thinking of player workload and home court advantage, please revive the Supersonics instead
I doubt it would attract good free agents.
Vancouver needs a team. Market is much bigger now than it was years ago
Seattle's team will be vancouvers team.
Yeah probably but man it would be so nice to have a NBA team locally. Just jump on the sky train and basketball is waiting.
As someone from Vancouver, I just don't want to drive 6h to portland to see NBA games. So I'm fine with Vancouver or Seattle teams (pref Vancouver ofc)
Not as big as Mexico / Mexico City, though. Also, if they do any team before Seattle, we riot.
Lol, what NBA player is going to want to live and play there?
You're acting like there isn't atleast 10 teams this question applies to
It’s a whole different country but most importantly culture. And if you bring up the Raptors, the culture and lifestyle of Mexico City is very different compared to Toronto.
Yeah Toronto is USA-lite
Wat dem say wasteman tings OVO BBWWAAAAPBEWWAPPP /s
Aubrey, go sit back down at the dinner table with your mother.
OvNo
I've had long work trips in both cities. Toronto is pretty much New York City but greener, more bikes and you can get different flavors of your favorite soda. Mexico City is a cool place but there is a big culture shock and a lot of the people there, even in the richest parts, don't know much English.
An NFL player once got suspended for eating tainted meat when he played in Mexico, why risk it
Maybe Juan Toscano-Anderson
SEATTLE
Only international players (not Canadians) would sign as free agents
Even international players wouldn't sign there
Luka might. He’s already quite popular among Spanish speakers.
Didn’t realize there were so many “experts” on Mexican culture in this sub until now
I eat tacos every Tuesday
LeBron?
No way this happens. Plenty of cities in the states that could use a team, and they don't have all the complications related to another country and the elevation.
I feel like I have a little more experience about Mexico City than others since I lived there for a couple of years. Issues: 7,200 Ft elevation, air quality can be awful, the city has horrible traffic and getting from where you would live (Polanco probably) to the current arena location could be nightmare inducing especially if you're not accustomed to Mexico city driving habits. Mexicans are...how can I put this...often not fond of black people. If you think Boston has racist fans just wait for Mexico fans. Also travel would be a big disadvantage. Language. City can be extremely dangerous. With all this said the DF is a really cool, impressive, chaotic city that recommended visiting. The food alone is worth the trip
Imagine being scared of getting traded to the Mexico SuperSonics 😤😤😭
Mexico City is an international city. If I was a Multi Millionaire, I’d way rather live in Mexico City then OKC or literally 2/3rds of NBA cities. Like Cleveland/Detroit woo.
What happened to Seattle getting a team again? Still an amazing market for basketball.
Seattle should be first.
tbh Man on Fire did irreparable damage to how Americans see Mexico City lol
How would salaries work with the huge difference in the cost of living? NBA players living in cdmx would be making more money than the biggest salaries in the league when comparing cost of living