r/nba • u/Marvelman88 • 13h ago
NBA in Mexico City as someone who actually lives here
The recent news from Silver is something that me and my city would be very excited about. I live in Mexico City and an NBA team here would have a MASSIVE following. The basketball community here is large and growing more everyday. While I entirely want Seattle to have a team, a team in Mexico City would be amazing for the league.
People who are saying that players wouldn't want to live or travel to Mexico City have clearly never been here, Mexico City is a better City in almost every way than the cities that already have teams, and of course is bigger than all of them. It is an international city that attracts millions of tourists every year for a reason. Just cause you never have been or don't like the idea of people speaking Spanish doesn't mean everyone has a problem with that.
This diversity would be INCREDIBLE for the league and I think it's quite obvious the team in Vegas should be nixed while a team in Seattle and CDMX would easily be the preferable two options.
Growing the game of basketball to Latin America would do wonders for the league as a whole, and will lead to more diverse, accepting, and larger fan base for basketball. And at the end of the day this is the most important thing.
370
u/JMEEKER86 Japan 12h ago
It's not that Mexico City isn't a great city. It just has the same problems that make players not like playing for Toronto, complicated taxes and the annoyances of frequent international travel, with the added negative of a language barrier.
49
u/english_gritts Warriors 11h ago
Any challenge can be solved with street tacos
6
u/JaysonBrown Celtics 7h ago
This is true. Got pulled over on my way to get food my first night in Mexico City, got pulled out of the car, was held by the police for 45 minutes at 1am. Was let go and got street tacos. Didn’t ruin my trip, loved Mexico, 10/10 would recommend and would get pulled over again for those tacos.
14
39
u/recuringhangover Trail Blazers 10h ago
It's also sinking into the earth and extremely water insecure.
40
→ More replies (1)83
u/Sweet_Arrival9559 Magic 11h ago edited 10h ago
Mexico City is a better City in almost every way than the cities that already have teams
It's kinda of crazy that Reddit is reaching a level of "America bad" that wild shit like that gets said unironically and anyone disagreeing with it is downvoted.
Most these players wouldn't even let their families go on a trip to Mexico City. Let alone play there. Lmao.
Edit: The people below are angrier about my comment than they are about OP saying Mexico City is better than like 30 U.S. cities. Anything other than "America bad" and you just get swarmed. Are the Russian data centers back online? (Notice how most of them don't have flair?)
Edit 2: Bruh. There's an upvoted comment below ranting about me being a conservative lmao. All because I pointed out the absurdity of OP's comment. Voted dem all my life. Doesn't mean I hate my own country lol.
94
u/MaleficentBet6702 Trail Blazers 11h ago
I mean Mexico City is pretty fantastic and safe. Not necessarily better than the top US cities but not a hot take that it’s better than Cleveland or some shit
→ More replies (3)19
u/Kingkongcrapper Lakers 10h ago
It’s the expected language barrier and media showing cartels running large parts of the nation. It’s the same issue cities like LA and New York face with the addition of being a foreign nation. We’ve seen several successful entertainment events and professional games from multiple sports played in Mexico City without issue. I think Seattle and Mexico City should be the two cities selected, but I don’t see a pro sport expansion outside the country until the next administration.
→ More replies (1)32
u/oby100 Celtics 10h ago
There’s no language barrier in CDMX for the wealthy. Many, many expats live in their English speaking bubbles there (much to the chagrin of many locals).
5
u/Kingkongcrapper Lakers 10h ago
I pertaining to the perceived language barrier. Not saying there is going to be one. It is my understanding Mexico City has become similar to any other major multicultural world center. That said, the perception is the issue.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (2)6
u/Single-Candle-797 10h ago
Yeah go to Polanco and find me 5 people who can’t speak English.
→ More replies (5)36
u/UpvoteIfYouAgreee [BOS] Jaylen Brown 8h ago
you do not have to hate your own country to believe that a world famous metropolitan is better than Oklahoma City
→ More replies (3)11
→ More replies (50)31
u/Rezrov_ Raptors 10h ago
Most these players wouldn't even let their families go on a trip to Mexico City.
Mexico City is safer than most US NBA cities, dude. Their homicide rate is the same as LA.
For perspective Detroit, New Orleans, Cleveland, Washington, Milwaulkee, Idianapolis, Oakland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Philly, Houston, Dallas, Portland, OKC, Denver, and Memphis all have higher homicide rates, and in some cases much much higher.
Also yeah, Mexico City is a better city than the bulk of cities that have NBA teams.
→ More replies (8)28
u/24bay 10h ago
Reported homicide rate and real homicide rate are 2 very different things. The real rate there is much higher because of how much goes unreported
→ More replies (1)17
u/tpar24 10h ago
where did you get this info from?
24
u/OkAutopilot NBA 6h ago edited 5h ago
I don't want to be on the side of people who are like, "Mexico must be ridden with crime because it's Mexico", but regardless of intention the person you are replying to is correct. Sorry if this is a little bit long.
So, Mexico has two different homicide numbers that they use, one is the SESNSP which counts all cases where something was reported and formally investigated and what the government uses for official data. Then there's the INEGI, which counts death certificates, so that homicides that were not formally investigated are counted in the tally.
The INEGI number is always higher than the SESNSP number, which you would expect, but it is often a lot higher. For example last year, INEGI was 18% higher than the official government number. That results in a little less than 4,400 homicides being discounted by the official number that should not have been discounted.
Now, this is a pretty massive divide and undercounting but it pales in comparison to the larger undercount which is related to "disappearances." There is a huge problem with "forced disappearances" that seems to be increasing at the same time official homicide statistics are showing a decrease in murders. Cases where people are missing and presumed dead are not counted as homicides, which is understandable at face value, but provides a murky picture of the real murder rate when there are far more unresolved missing persons cases in Mexico compared to, say, the US.
Just to put a point on that, something like ~92-98% of missing persons cases in the US are resolved, whether that be concluding there was a homicide or, much more often, alive, the number is much lower in Mexico. Only around 50% of missing persons cases in Mexico end up being resolved and in total, it seems to be around 30-40% of all missing persons cases in Mexico result in the person being found dead.
It's not just cartel violence either, femicide has been on the rise and is a massive issue, same with abductions or trafficking of minors. Shoot, a handful of times a year you'll end up getting a report of a new mass grave site where dozens if not hundreds of bodies are found. Sometimes they're old, sometimes they're relatively recent burials, but it's literally not uncommon at this point. The level of death and disappearance is, frankly, staggering and a massive issue.
Not just homicide, but crime in general. Only 10% of crimes in Mexico get reported at all, which is very low, and this is more underscored by the fact that over 36% of households in Mexico had someone who was a victim of a crime. For reference to the US, again, they have around a 30-40% report rate and a 7-8.5% rate of a crime being committed against a member of a household.
It is a different environment relating to crime there than the US. You are far more likely to be impacted or victim to a crime, generally speaking, in Mexico.
Now, does this mean an NBA player is necessarily going to be? It doesn't. They could and would be fairly insulated from this type of thing in MXCD. That being said, they are still at a far higher risk there (let alone their families, kids going to school, etc.), than they would be here, and would need to live in much more of a bubble. NBA players are just not gonna go for it.
All that aside, Mexico City is at 7,400ft and if there's complaints about going to Denver to play boy howdy is it that much worse there. For that reason alone it's not gonna happen, let alone anything else.
→ More replies (2)3
u/Area51_Spurs Spurs 4h ago
All I know is, I remember going to Mexico and everyone gets off the bus and there’s all the dudes trying to get us to go to clubs and bars and whatever and a dude is yelling about girls… “young girls.” And nobody besides us thought anything of it.
Then we had to pay off a cop when we were messing around joking and play-fighting each other in the jacuzzi so we didn’t go to jail.
Sorry, but in the US you don’t go to a tourist destination and have dudes openly trying to sell underage girls for the night and you aren’t openly slipping police cash.
Then they had cockfighting in the lobby of the hotel.
Let’s be forreal. We don’t have so many Mexicans coming to the US if Mexico isn’t problematic.
We’re to the point where we are overcompensating for past racism by just acting like no issues exist.
It’s so dumb.
There’s no way you’re telling me NBA players could be living in Mexico City with no security with nothing bad happening.
Scoring 182 countries around the world, the Corruption Perceptions Index is the leading global indicator of public sector corruption.
Mexico has a score of 27 this year, with a change of 1 since last year, meaning it ranks 141 out of 182 countries.
→ More replies (4)17
102
u/DrMisterNobody 13h ago
I think it’d be cool, I do think players not wanting to play there could be an issue. A lot of players don’t want to play in Toronto.
→ More replies (5)31
u/UltraTiberious China 12h ago
And Vancouver too. Canada has a much better presentation to the American crowd than Mexico ever will but lol the NBA prospects acted like you’re sending them to Alaska if you asked them about Canada
→ More replies (7)
446
u/435rouhnj234_209u 12h ago edited 12h ago
People who are saying that players wouldn't want to live or travel to Mexico City have clearly never been here, Mexico City is a better City in almost every way than the cities that already have teams, and of course is bigger than all of them. It is an international city that attracts millions of tourists every year for a reason. Just cause you never have been or don't like the idea of people speaking Spanish doesn't mean everyone has a problem with that.
Y'all always start listing shit players won't care about while ignoring all the major issues they have already been on the record giving flack to existing teams for:
- What NBA player give a crap about international tourism in the city?
- What about immigration, which they give Toronto tons of shit for?
- Have you heard these players talk? You think a sizeable portion of them won't have a problem with living in a city where the primary language spoken or written isn't English?
- Assuming older, more experienced players are more mature about this stuff; you do realize that teenagers being drafted out of American suburbs would be the biggest trouble makers here, right? That's what fucked over Vancouver. You think there won't be multiple Steve Francises when players get drafted to Mexico City?
218
u/StaleMemesNoDreams Cavaliers 12h ago edited 10h ago
Yeah immigration is the biggest issue that OP just completely glosses over. The idea that players would be falling over to play for city that is geographically further from every other western conference city and one that speaks a different language just because the city gets a lot of tourists is too simple, almost naive.
EDIT: all the replies to me are still ignoring the customs/immigration issue. Which exacerbates the distance issue.
→ More replies (22)92
u/MegaSupremeTaco Washington Bullets 12h ago
We’re not that far removed from players being so upset that they were being drafted to Vancouver that they were crying on nba draft night lol. Toronto can’t even get a free agent to go there and they’re as Americanized a city can ever get.
All the reasons people list for why CDMX is awesome sounds great if you’re a regular guy who is vacationing. For a job where you’re there for max 2 days sounds a lot less appealing.
→ More replies (2)63
u/Dramatic_Bad_3100 12h ago
We're talking about 20-30 year old predominately African American males, you are totally spot on.
12
u/CrucesSteamer Thunder 7h ago
On the language front, I went to Mexico City and virtually no one spoke english.
→ More replies (1)7
u/3pointshoot3r 3h ago
I've made this point previously, but Mexico City is one of the world's great cities. Unfortunately, what makes it an amazing city isn't necessarily going to endear it to the typical NBA player, whose life revolves around Xbox, Sports Centre, and hitting the club.
Toronto is also an amazing city - and in ways that much more closely align with the interests of your NBA player, but even so, it faces a lot of pushback from the NBA playing community. Mexico City, with much longer travel times, a different language, and all the drawbacks that Toronto has (eg. going through customs), would face even more hostility.
→ More replies (13)5
u/EpicCyclops Trail Blazers 2h ago
This is my thing with recruiting players there. Toronto struggles to get players because it's in Canada. Toronto checks every box Mexico City does and then some while being primarily English speaking. Some American cities struggle to get players because the culture shock is too large within the US even, like Seattle and Portland.
The only exception here is with international players, who are becoming more and more prominent in the league, but American players are still the bread and butter.
The one saving grace Mexico City would have is it may drastically increase the prominence of basketball in Mexico and create a bunch of talented Mexican players that will take huge pay cuts to play in Mexico City, but that would take a decade or more to come to fruition.
253
u/archivedpear Cavaliers 13h ago
Love that for you as a resident, but I’ll say what I did in another thread about this: as great as CDMX is, it presents logistical challenges that would be genuinely problematic. Playing at over 7k elevation would present a noticeable risk for injuries/post game recovery and integrating the travel to Mexico City into the problematic as is nba scheduling would create serious travel issues in an 82 game schedule. The reality is traveling that far becomes very difficult to integrate w back to backs, 3 games in 4 days, etc. that we already gripe about w the nba schedule and can’t seem to fix. As great as international audiences would be, is that worth making a team play at over 7k elevation every day? Throw in that a number of existing franchises live around sea level or within a thousand feet of it and there’s genuine health risks that would impact players disproportionately compared to a team in Vegas or Seattle. It would be amazing to have a Latin America team but playing at 2000+ feet higher than Denver is a real issue that idk how you address
40
u/Rgrace888 12h ago
I also believe I read that chartered and private flights into Mexico City have to use the far-away airport because the closer one is so congested that they don’t allow private or chartered planes to land there. So travel would be even harder to get there.
→ More replies (1)239
u/No-Ranger3356 12h ago
and i think OP is underestimating just how much players would be turned off by the language and cultural differences
→ More replies (36)284
u/illestchosen Warriors 12h ago
underestimating? op is naively giving it absolutely no thought at all
97
u/No-Ranger3356 12h ago
if you look at some of these comments you can see people saying it's racist to be against a team in Mexico city
so i guess we're there already lol
→ More replies (2)56
u/veringo Nuggets 12h ago
Probably some of the sentiment is racist, but Toronto is also an amazing city where English is the primary language and players still don't want to live there.
Regardless of the reason, CDMX being a great city is kind of irrelevant.
→ More replies (9)→ More replies (1)5
u/FraudnandoMendoza Supersonics 11h ago
As are most of the people claiming that the NBA in Mexico City is a no brainer. Any of the big four pro leagues will never, ever have a team in London or Mexico City or whatever market that makes absolutely no sense that Redditors will get hooked on next.
14
u/AWalker17 Celtics 12h ago
Maybe I am missing something, but isn't there a G League team playing there already?
→ More replies (8)→ More replies (18)24
u/mojomarc Trail Blazers 12h ago
I took a direct flight from DC to CMDX in April that was less than five hours. That's no worse than going from DC to Portland or LA with the exception of immigration (which is a breeze in CMDX but more problematic coming back home). It isn't like we're adding New Dehli to the schedule
→ More replies (2)39
u/Rgrace888 12h ago
Private or charter flights have to use the airport that is well over an hour outside the city. They can’t use the close one.
→ More replies (1)14
u/oby100 Celtics 11h ago
That airport fucking sucks. All the locals I know refuse to book a flight that lands or takes off from there.
→ More replies (1)
179
u/Matuga1000 12h ago
I’m Mexican and grew up in Mexico City, I go back almost every year for holidays and I have a lot of love for it. However, players would certainly prefer not to go there. It is far away, different language (which you acknowledge), dangerous (even when you’re rich unlike many dangerous places in America), culturally very different, at altitude, polluted, etc.
I love Mexico City and there are still many things I prefer over Europe (idk about living in the US), but overall I think it would present logistical difficulties and the players would be very against it.
→ More replies (13)
19
u/Rope_drop Celtics 6h ago
I’m pro Seattle y Mexico City all the way!
Fuck Vegas but mostly fuck sports betting!!
6
55
u/Then_Fun2933 13h ago
please show me the list of billionaires that want to pay 12 billion to have a team in Mexico City..
→ More replies (18)15
11
u/doyouthinkwecanfly Raptors 10h ago
People who are saying that players wouldn't want to live or travel to Mexico City have clearly never been here, Mexico City is a better City in almost every way than the cities that already have teams, and of course is bigger than all of them. It is an international city that attracts millions of tourists every year for a reason. Just cause you never have been or don't like the idea of people speaking Spanish doesn't mean everyone has a problem with that.
I appreciate this but players to this day do not want to come to Canada and they speak English here. And to get ahead of the "it's cold" comments, yes it is. But Vancouver had the same problems and Vancouver is not cold. At the end of the day, most players are American and would rather stay in the USA.
5
u/congenitallymissing Nuggets 2h ago
To add to this....when he says it attracts millions of tourists every year. Yeah. Cuz its awesome. I've visited many times....in no way does that mean I would want to move my family to a different country
41
u/yetagainitry 12h ago
I’m curious. As a Canadian, we have dealt for years with players refusing to want to play over a border due to family/friends being unable to cross. So if Mexico City gets a team, will it be the same
46
u/TwoPlankinWiz Vancouver Grizzlies 12h ago
Altitude + Language + Culture would make Mexico City a much harder sell for players compared to Toronto
At least Toronto is an anglophone, North American metropolis. CDMX is its own unique beast
→ More replies (5)→ More replies (22)22
u/AutoGeneratedChad 11h ago
Not to mention at least Toronto is close to Detroit, Cleveland, NY, Boston, and Philly, so teams from other regions can hit them all in a single road trip.
Mexico City is close to… Mexico City
→ More replies (3)10
u/PumpJockyTwerks4Tips 10h ago
It's the equivalent of an LA-NYC flight or longer to/from just about every other NBA city. And then you're at like 7000 ft altitude once you get there.
124
u/PodricksPhallus [TOR] DeMar DeRozan 12h ago
>Mexico City is a better City in almost every way than the cities that already have teams
I love Mexico City, but this is just patently untrue. To name a couple, Mexico City’s traffic is far worse than NYC or LA. Its air quality is far worse than LA. You can’t drink the tap water. It’s incredibly corrupt.
Not saying any of this is disqualifying, but a blanket statement that it’s better than all of the other cities is laughable.
43
→ More replies (9)6
u/SexySatan69 Tampa Bay Raptors 4h ago
Based on my experience, the number of players on the injured list with stomach bugs (and load management disguised as stomach bugs) would be astronomical. On top of that, the condition of the infrastructure, even compared to the most run-down NBA cities, is pretty shocking, and anyone saying otherwise is full of it. Otherwise, it's a good time.
9
u/Expert_Reputation Suns 12h ago
I love Mexico City but the closest cities to it are San Antonio / Houston and that is still 2 and a half hours flight.
→ More replies (6)
74
u/DolphinRodeo Spain 12h ago edited 12h ago
People who are saying that players wouldn't want to live or travel to Mexico City have clearly never been here, Mexico City is a better City in almost every way than the cities that already have teams, and of course is bigger than all of them. It is an international city that attracts millions of tourists every year for a reason. Just cause you never have been or don't like the idea of people speaking Spanish doesn't mean everyone has a problem with that.
It really doesn’t matter if you like living there or fans like visiting as tourists or if you think players should want to live there. What matters is if players want to live there, and the answer for most is going to be no, even if you scold them about it in Reddit.
How about Mexico makes its own basketball league with teams all over Mexico? Wouldn’t that be even bigger for basketball there rather than one team in the NBA that will never sign a free agent who has other offers?
Da igual que te enfades, los jugadores norteamericanos y europeos no van a querer vivir y jugar en México.
Edit: because people bring up Toronto, here is an actual NBA player saying that actual NBA players do not like dealing with the logistics of moving to a different country to play for the Raptors. Imagine those same logistics 700 miles away from the US in another language and with the worst travel schedule in the league. Mexico is great, but NBA players who have 30 other options aren’t going to choose to move there. It’s nothing worth being offended over
→ More replies (16)
44
u/TerrySaucer69 Spurs 12h ago
I think it’s silly to say any city is “better” than the 30 current NBA cities.
Maybe better for an NBA team, maybe better to visit, but just holistically better is just kinda extreme to say.
17
u/YouDontGetTheToe Celtics 11h ago
“You guys are biased because you’ve never been here” - while showing the exact same bias.
That said, CDMX and Seattle are the right choices. Vegas is a horrible place that deserves nothing (I’ve been there so I’m not biased*)
3
u/TerrySaucer69 Spurs 11h ago
Hell I’d take, like, El Paso Texas over Vegas. I’ll take Barcelona Spain over Vegas.
Fuck Vegas, worst part of every interstate drive I do.
31
u/Otherwise_Fish_3279 13h ago
Yes but lets take the players don’t want to be in mexico and put what they want last lol
→ More replies (33)19
u/SemataryPolka Timberwolves 12h ago
I am probably getting the person or team wrong but I seem to remember Paul Pierce after the Celtics eliminated the Raptors screaming "NO MORE GOING THROUGH CUSTOMS!"
110
u/dvrmbl 12h ago
I can tell you with 100% certainty that no NBA player will want to live in Mexico City
37
u/King-Bofo Warriors 12h ago
90 percent of the league only wants to play in NY, LA or Miami so this is an understatement.
→ More replies (11)34
u/catadvice02143 Trail Blazers 12h ago
I hate to use this term but I feel like the people acting performatively oblivious as to why Mexico City would have trouble attracting players are just virtue signaling. Yes, OK, we get it, Mexico City is a great place, the stereotypes are wrong. Players still won't want to go there.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (42)47
u/SemataryPolka Timberwolves 12h ago
100%. And it's not because the city sucks it's bc nba players are dumb and don't really know shit. LeBron just said Philly is as cold as Minnesota. Even the smart ones are dumb
8
→ More replies (1)11
68
u/AmericanIMG NBA 12h ago
Players don't even want to live in Toronto, which is incredible and a short flight from the US and much more westernized than MC. It's hard to have players think outside the box, and though I really do hope it happens it's hard to see a team in MC.
→ More replies (45)47
u/Zigxy Pacers Bandwagon 12h ago
7350ft elevation, travel distance, visa requirements for every visiting team/media members.
Forget the language/safety concerns.
It’s just a pain in the ass for logistics and player recovery.
→ More replies (1)
12
55
u/Kids_Love_Baseball 13h ago
I want a CDMX team because I think the color scheme would probably be so dope. Hopefully they do a jade color palette.
48
69
u/BZGames Heat 12h ago edited 9h ago
Players already don’t want to live in Toronto which is a city with a culture very similar to their own and speaks English primarily.
Mexico City will be the same thing, I’m sure there will be players who see the value in being a star in the Mexican market, but no one would want to live half their life in a city where they don’t speak the language.
Edit: I’m not talking about the quality of the cities, I am sure they are very nice places to live. That does not change the fact that players have openly expressed they don’t like having to cross the border for games and living in Mexico would be a huge culture shock for anyone in the league.
31
u/PositionFormal6969 11h ago
Players don’t want to live in Philadelphia and commute by helicopter to NYC
→ More replies (1)6
u/uncleoptimus 10h ago
*Player
3
u/Dav136 Knicks 3h ago
JJ Reddick did it too when he was on the team (he lived in Brooklyn)
→ More replies (2)22
u/NilsofWindhelm 76ers 11h ago
Mexico city is way more fun than toronto
27
u/fivetwentyeight Raptors 11h ago
If it was just about how fun a city is then Toronto wouldn’t be a problem. Players regularly rank it as among their favourite cities on the road.
→ More replies (4)→ More replies (12)33
u/s-a-t Lakers 11h ago
It’s not about being fun, American players already avoid Toronto how would Mexico City be any better?
36
→ More replies (26)10
u/McBrungus 76ers 10h ago
Well for one thing, basketball is mostly played in the winter and mexico city is notably not in Canada
7
u/s-a-t Lakers 10h ago
These are dudes with unimaginable amount of money, they can be wherever they want regardless of where they work. And Toronto is a world class city with everything and actually everything there are no compromises for specifically AMERICAN players. International players would probably much more willing and happy to play in CDMX.
I guess my view comes more from American players being way more sheltered now, basketball is increasingly becoming a rich kids sport in the USA.
3
u/YourLocalGoogleRep 10h ago
Yeah that’s true from their perspective. As someone that’s been to Toronto and Mexico City though, Mexico City is the more livable and fun city. Equally modern but a lot more to do.
→ More replies (2)5
u/KennyKettermen Timberwolves 10h ago
Yeah but you have to deal with winter in Toronto and there’s more big booty latinas in Mexico City. I’ll chalk that up as a dub for Mexico City
→ More replies (3)6
u/determineduncertain Raptors 9h ago
The idea that winter in Toronto is somehow unique when Minnesota, Chicago, and Boston don’t get the same criticism fascinates me. I lived in Toronto and visited NYC in the winter and it was miserable (the wet winter in NYC was a special kind of deep cold). If people think the winter in Toronto is somehow uniquely bad, that’s a failure of their geographic understanding and not the city itself.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (51)5
u/ReadKindOfAlot Raptors 10h ago
I do not understand this take. In the last poll of city interest among player Toronto was like in the upper half of cities they'd like to play in. It's the 2nd or 3rd biggest city in the league.
Hell, I think that besides the bottom cities like Memphis, most players do not really care all that much about location.
34
u/rovingstorm Knicks 13h ago
If you guys get a team my friends and I will absolutely make flying down there for a weekend of games an annual pilgrimage
35
u/This_Field_7872 Hawks 12h ago
Putting a team in Mexico City would be a logistical disaster lol
→ More replies (8)
6
u/billdancesex 11h ago
CDMX is one of my favorites cities in the world but let's get serious. NBA players pretty much only care about the quality of the strip clubs and income taxes.
18
u/Fhaksfha794 Spurs 12h ago
The only downside with Mexico City is the altitude, which I think is higher than Denver’s or at least on par. We have big babies in the league that already cry about playing in Denver, it will be 10x worse for Mexico City because its foreign
10
5
u/churnate 10h ago
Altitude is 60% higher than Denver. You’re at more than 8000 feet. It’s wild and noticeable.
→ More replies (5)17
u/ILikeFPS Raptors 11h ago
Altitude, traffic, air quality, safety concerns, language barrier, and tap water. More than one downside tbh.
→ More replies (10)
14
u/FuiyooohFox 11h ago
I wonder how much worse 7.2k feet elevation is compared to 5.2k feet elevation. Genuinely curious now for the scientific data on how things continue to change between elevation levels.
Surely it's not nearly as big of a difference compared to sea level and 5.2k feet?
Is it enough of a difference that it makes 7.2k too risky for the players to play in without first adapting but 5.2k is obviously okay?
I see people saying Mexico City is too high of elevation for players to come in short term on a safety basis and an wondering if that's legit or just talking head bs
16
u/Snoo93550 10h ago
I hike a ton in Angeles mountains of LA. 7k is right about where altitude can start to affect me if I come straight from sea level, but sometimes I’m fine up to 7-8k. One night of camping I’m fine at nearly any altitude. The tallest peaks near LA are like 11k and if I wake up at sea level and hike that peak in one day I’ll need to pop some ibuprofen and drink a lot of water to fight off altitude sickness even as an avid hiker.
→ More replies (6)6
u/fuzzy1954 9h ago
See Cain Velazquez vs Fabricio Werdum in the UFC in Mexico City. Cain had the best cardio of any heavyweight in UFC history, but Werdum trained there for weeks while Cain showed up the week before and treated it like any other fight. Cain got exhausted and lost.
→ More replies (3)5
u/FormerKarmaKing Lakers 8h ago
I semi-regularly travel betwee Denver (5280ft) to Bogota (8,660ft) and I have a cycling class I do in Bogota. It's not that bad but the first class back I always take it easy. Getting headaches still is not uncommon.
NBA Players would have a much bigger jump though. Mexico City games would likely be after games in San Antonio or L.A.; both are only average elevations of ~500 ft. How long it takes to lose your acclimation, idk. But it won't be nothing.
8
u/background_action92 Heat 12h ago
Carnal, honestamente no creo que sea buena idea por cuestiones de logística, si ya en si a los jugadores les caga ir a toronto ahora al df.
Aparte que no estaría haciendo nada para latinoamerica. A mi me da igual que México tenga un equipo de basket, ni que fuera la capital de La
107
u/sterlingfartcher69 76ers 13h ago
Forget LV. Give Mexico City and Seattle expansion teams, and move the Grizz out of Memphis and back to Vancouver.
Problem solved. Adam Silver, hire me.
59
u/BBQLovingBastard Spurs 13h ago
Memphis deserves a team. Move the Clippers out of LA and start a new franchise up in VC.
→ More replies (9)24
u/sterlingfartcher69 76ers 12h ago
I'm also fine with this. When Adam hires me I will put in a good word for you.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (16)16
5
u/WTF4211 11h ago
Great majority of players only live in their city for work and bounce to California which they consider their home.
→ More replies (1)
17
u/PsychedelicConvict Pistons 12h ago
Its a far travel. Thats the biggest hit in terms of it fitting into the league. We would need more latin american & Caribbean teams for them to have their own division. It would just be really hard on the players. Nhl has this problem too
→ More replies (17)5
u/pacific_plywood Warriors 12h ago
Also a considerable altitude adjustment
5
u/Rubberbabeh Bulls 11h ago
This is the big one. People think Denver (5,280ft) is bad? Mexico City is at 7,350ft
→ More replies (5)6
u/MiserableDatabase320 11h ago
This is absolutely the biggest issue with Mexico City. I don't think folks are understanding that if you fly into Mexico City from a place like Louisiana, you're gonna need at least 48 hours to be able to exert yourself physically as an NBA player would need.
It's like playing on a different planet in many ways. I won't bore the NBA sub with weather stuff but this stands out to me as a stark problem.
→ More replies (1)5
u/yeahright17 Thunder 10h ago
The GLeague already had a team in Mexico City, and teams playing there do fine. Guys just don't play quite as long and have supplemental oxygen on the bench. I think the one thing you'd have to do to keep it relatively fair is make sure the team from Mexico City isn't in town for more than a week or so. As long as you kept that team in and out of Mexico City as well, their bodies wouldn't acclimate and they'd have the same air issues that other teams have. Yes, Mexico City is higher than Denver, but it's never even really talked about as an issue in Denver anymore.
18
u/JaehaerysIVTarg Supersonics 12h ago
Nah man. Players don’t want to live there. Visiting is one thing. Living a whole different thing. And you’re out of your mind with that statement, Mexico City is not almost better every way than the cities that already have teams. Thats a wild statement.
→ More replies (4)
31
u/rocpilehardasfuk Warriors 12h ago
Have you seen nba athletes? They make the average American seem like a genius.
Absolute morons who love Miami and Atlanta more than anything and they dislike even Toronto.
Mexico is a step too far for them and a diplomatic issue waiting to happen
Also Zion in Latina land might be a disaster
11
u/Remote-Stretch8346 9h ago
Zion going to Mexico city dude will have 10 baby mommas and be 400 lbs.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (14)3
u/Ice2jc 10h ago
hey hey hey I'd argue that Atlanta is more like Toronto than Miami. Buckhead, the northern district in Atlanta is similar to Miami and downtown can be during events but the rest of Atlanta is more like Toronto. Atlanta might be defined by rap/party culture on an international level but it's literally a city in a forest with a thriving population of people that have never been to a strip club and just like living in the woods.
5
4
u/jimgogek 8h ago
I think Mexico City would have huge home court advantage, starting with the altitude but probably also with rabid and loud fans.
22
u/ghgrain Warriors 12h ago
I support Mexico City over Vegas. There is no universe where I would ever support Mexico City over Seattle.
→ More replies (2)
10
u/maxmontgomery 76ers 12h ago
36 teams. Everybody plays everyone else home and home. 70 game season. This is the way.
→ More replies (1)
33
u/Fine-Credit4839 12h ago
As a person from an “undesirable” city, it’s not actually about your city and the terribleness of it or the goodness of it, it comes down to the people that play in the NBA. They don’t care about a lot of the beautiful, cool, unique things about your city. There are two barriers that come to mind that would be a no go for 18-26 yo nba players. Language and inconvenience of living in another country. Even if most of the paperwork and hassle was solved for them, they would hate being so far away from what they’re used to.
Does Mexico City have EVERYTHING other huge cities have? Yes. In the end, it probably won’t matter to a bunch of young adults that don’t see past minor inconveniences.
9
u/Ok-Association-3415 Lakers 7h ago
Didn’t the Canada based teams struggled to get free agents or keep their rookies who were US based? The Raptors won a title, but it’s not like they got US based players wanting to go there.
→ More replies (10)7
u/purpscurp93 5h ago
I mean Canadian culture is almost identical to US culture. Comparing that to mexico is a lil ridiculous
→ More replies (1)8
u/Big_Work_2011 4h ago
Yeah Mexico is truly another country. Meanwhile Canada and the US might be the two most similar countries on the entire planet
→ More replies (1)11
u/heddyneddy Charlotte Hornets 7h ago
A rich young basketball player is gonna have a way better time living in Mexico City than Utah
→ More replies (1)7
u/ExtremeProfession 12h ago
I'm sure CDMX has several areas that are catering to the English-speaking expats, a city of that size would provide more than enough fun and a sensible bubble from the mainstream Mexican life and the use of Spanish.
7
→ More replies (1)4
u/Funny_Information 6h ago
The city is not so big! The population number you guys keep regurgitating is meaningless, it’s a wild border. There are very few neighborhoods here that are catering to immigrants (expats) and there are very very few of those people here anyways. If you don’t want to immerse (it’s not an international city, at all, any American city is more metropolitan and international) yourself here it feels like a really really polluted and dirty small town, vs a dirty polluted big city. And in the USA crime happens in small certain areas, not at all like that here. You guys are such performative weirdos
→ More replies (30)3
8
u/kiwisawa420 7h ago
I agree that Mexico City is an incredible place. I don’t agree that it’s a good fit for an NBA city with how hard the schedule is and travel demands too. I’m trying to figure how they could possibly fit them into the schedule without create serious advantages and disadvantages.
Also Mexico City sits at 7700 feet… if people thought Denver was a tough place to play, add a 6 hour flight and 1500 feet in elevation to the equation.
IMO if Mexico City gets a team it’s a money grab, because it makes zero sense from a basketball and competition standpoint.
9
u/MaskYourDeviceID 9h ago
Trade Vegas for CDMX.
Why the fuck is Vegas the "lock" over Seattle? The two markets aren't even comparable.
If CDMX gets a team, it should be whatever stupidass team was gonna be in Vegas.
→ More replies (2)
23
u/crockhunter 12h ago
Nobody is opposed to a Mexico City team because they speak Spanish there lmao. That’s like some stupid strawman argument trying to frame anyone who opposes is it as racist. The biggest issue is it’s like a 3.5 hour flight south from the closest existing NBA city. It’s just neither practical nor fair to ask of players.
→ More replies (31)8
u/Ill_Carpet5280 76ers 9h ago
it's also 7.3k feet above sea level, nearly 2k above denver. I'm not sure it'd even be safe for players to fly in and immediately get to practicing and playing without spending some time acclimating first. It's just not a practical option
→ More replies (6)5
u/Justice502 Heat 8h ago
I know that this is being casually just discarded by people who hike, but I don't think normal people and athletes really compare... I feel like we get smoked by Denver and Utah on the road more often than we should, and it ain't just recency of them being good.
→ More replies (1)
3
u/ContinuingAnyway 12h ago
But how will they address the overpumping of the aquifer that's causing Mexico City to sink every month?
3
u/stayintheshadows 12h ago
Players would rather a team be in Europe than Mexico. Mexico has a ton of work to do to rehabilitate their image. Cartel news reports are very frequent in the US, right or wrong, but it’s true.
3
u/nsanegenius3000 10h ago
If Mexico City gets a team they will have the same problem that Toronto has and that's keeping and getting players.
The NBA is around 75 percent Black and going to place where even dark skinned Mexicans get treated badly is definitely not going to work for most of them.
I've been to Mexico City and they had a half mile of cops with machine guns posted up everywhere. Television is all light skinned Mexicans on every station. It's heavily Catholic. Black culture is non-existent.
Every time a player's contract is up they're going to be on the first thing smoking to get back to the States.
3
u/Final_Amu0258 8h ago
Mexico City is a better City in almost every way than the cities that already have teams
Well no shit you'd say this dawg. Thanks for your opinion piece I guess.
3
u/NotNormo Lakers 5h ago edited 5h ago
Mexico City's team would have such a huge home court advantage. 7400 ft above sea level, significantly more than Denver who already have a very strong home court advantage (probably the strongest of all major sports teams).
11
u/Weak-Bid2774 Pistons 12h ago
Mexico City and Seattle would be awesome
I don’t think Vegas needs a nba team honestly
→ More replies (1)4
u/shualton Warriors 12h ago
I really think the NBA is overestimating how amazing of a market Vegas is.
Every other sports franchise in Vegas either had an established fanbase, or was an immediate championship contender.
5
u/LeBaconator 12h ago
Part of me really hopes you get a team. But I feel like the better route is to just give you guys like 7-10 international games per season like the NFL does. Or the all star/NBA Cup finals.
In the process, a team may capitalize on making that an”2nd home” the way the Jags do in London
5
u/camelclutchcity Knicks 12h ago
I know Vegas is in stone, but Mexico City and Seattle would be absolute fire
→ More replies (1)
9
u/flashbang99 12h ago
I 1000% agree a team in Mexico City would be sick and be very successful. I also think the NBA has to put a team in Seattle for so many reasons. Fuck. Vegas. Why are they a lock to get a team?
6
12
u/trer24 Warriors 12h ago
I’d be ok with Seattle and Mexico City. Why does Vegas need another pro team?
→ More replies (1)6
u/ScousePenguin Raptors 12h ago
Because they don't want fans they want a revolving door of tourists who visit the team store every game
12
u/Literally_12 Lakers 12h ago
Mexico City would be great instead of Las Vegas but Seattle is a must.
7
6
u/InevitableAd2436 Supersonics 13h ago
Wait your turn.
Plus San Antonio will want to continue playing a few games in Monterrey and Mexico City annually.
→ More replies (1)
7
u/camping_scientist Pacers 12h ago
Fix the water. Otherwise its below every expansion city in usa/canada or europe.
19
u/inko75 12h ago
Mexico City is a fucking amazing city to live in as even an upper middle class person. As a rich person it is going to be on par with nyc, la, Chicago, and Miami easily as a premier destination for players. Only pause might be not many black folk in Mexico and they have an odd secretive history around it and the country does have quite a bit of colorism. But again, elite celebrities generally on a pedestal there.
Frankly, other than hockey there should be teams from every sport in Mexico City. Also, while the higher elevation has an impact, the area as a whole has amazing weather.
My only demand is one team have the axolotl as a mascot.
10
u/fckcarrots 76ers 12h ago
I’m glad you brought up the point about being black in Mexico City. I’m a well-traveled person, who’s personally experienced racism in CDMX and it’s a bit annoying being told it doesn’t exist by Mexican natives living in the US.
I would describe it as similar to how some conservative white Americans in trailer park communities view blacks regardless of socioeconomic class. Like bro, we both struggling but you still feel like you’re better than me.
I don’t think that will be an issue with the NBA players. I did a rotation in Guadalajara for a month or two at a plant down there, and they bused us from our apartments in and out, there was always security and we even had locals with us when we went out as a group for grocery shopping or nightlife. I assume it will be like that but on steroids for the players. If they can play in China and stay for a week, CDMX will be a cake walk.
→ More replies (12)4
18
u/Daroo425 Rockets 12h ago
Just cause you never have been or don't like the idea of people speaking Spanish doesn't mean everyone has a problem with that.
weirdly defensive. I think enough pampered NBA players will not want to deal with any language barrier enough to dissuade them from preferring to move there.
19
u/AllOutRaptors Raptors 12h ago
People dont even want to go to Toronto what makes OP think they'd have no problem going to Mexico City lmao
Like yeah its a great city but NBA players are entitled and their world view is super narrow.
→ More replies (1)10
u/Moonti314 Knicks 11h ago
“Mexico City is a better City in almost every way than the cities that already have teams”
There is also this part, which I think can be debated in many cases
→ More replies (6)
4
u/GroundbreakingPage41 Hornets 12h ago
If I were an athlete I wouldn’t want to risk myself or my family being targeted by the Cartel
3
u/RiversofJell0 Lakers 12h ago
I got montezuma’s revenge from a quesadilla in Mexico City. Took me weeks to get back to normal
→ More replies (3)
4
u/lucash7 Trail Blazers 11h ago
Seattle > mexico city.
Bring the Super Sonics back. Then let’s talk about Silver’s insanity.
→ More replies (4)
3
2.1k
u/SemataryPolka Timberwolves 13h ago
Not to be a downer for you but I wouldn't get too excited. It's just leverage for Silver. He's all in on Vegas (bc ofc gambling etc) and now he's saying Seattle is not so sure. Dude, people will riot if Seattle doesn't get a team again. They've been waiting for decades. It's not impossible Mexico City gets one but I highly doubt it.