Could the NBA be planning to expand the G League further into Latin America?

When the NBA made the momentous decision to add a G League team south of the US border in Mexico City, it made history. The first officially affiliated team in the orbit of the world’s premier basketball league had established a presence outside of the United States and Canada for the first time in its seven-plus decades of existence.

The possibility of pulling not only the league’s fans in a nation of over 120 million souls closer, but all of Latin America via lucrative broadcasting rights deals also had a subtext coming with it of what might come later should the Capitanes — Mexico City’s G League team — be successful.

Would a full NBA team ever make its home in the Mexican capital or elsewhere in the republic?

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Fast forward several years to the present, and the Capitanes are among the best-attended and most-beloved ball clubs playing the sport in the NBA’s developmental league just as that league was to be leaned on more by their Association counterparts.

Names like Kenneth Faried, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Trey Burke, and Michael Carter-Williams this season and Shabazz Napier, Jahlil Okafor, and Skal Labissiere last season populated the Capitanes roster and filled seats.

Players from Latin America like Justin Minaya used the influx of talent from the parent league to parlay their experiences playing alongside these players for the Capitanes to elevate their profile and find their way onto NBA rosters.

And with the first of two major obstacles to the league entering into expansion mode — the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement — now in the rear-view mirror and the media rights deal perhaps not so far from being sorted out, rumbles of Mexico joining the NBA fold with a full team began to heat up again.

Speaking at the 2023 Mexico City Games, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver used some of the strongest language yet about a potential expansion to Mexico City in his remarks at the event, saying that “there’s enormous opportunity to continue growing the game of basketball here in Mexico City and throughout the country”.

“We also see this as a gateway essentially to the rest of Latin America, hinted Silver. Noting that “all of the indicators are positive in terms of playing, social media, viewership in terms of the growth of the game,” the league commissioner spoke of “the dream of an NBA franchise coming to Mexico City one day”.

But that dream, dating back to the tenure of Silver’s predecessor David Stern, saw a new wrinkle as of yet unbroached by the league thrown into the mix, perhaps as a bridge to that “ultimate” dream of a full NBA team south of the Rio Grande.

“(A full NBA team in Mexico is) … a dream we’ve never forgotten and something given the population and the enormous interest here and of course this first-class arena, something we’d love to see happen one day,” related Silver.

This came after floating “additional G League franchises in Mexico City and ultimately a larger footprint here in Latin America,” almost as an afterthought — but what a seismic afterthought such a move might be.

As a means of further developing the talent pool in Latin America as much as for potentially expanding interest in the sport and league in the Spanish-speaking world south of the US, it presents an intriguing if necessarily vague image of how the G League might look in the future.

“I think over time we could see having more G League teams in the region, maybe not just even in Mexico but creating more teams in Central and Latin America for more competition,” shared Silver.

But challenges to making such a potentially vast idea in the broadest sense hinted at by the commissioner a reality remain in place even if some of the potential logistical issues have a proof-in-concept via the Capitanes.

As exciting as such a further expansion into the massive market for NBA content in Latin America is, it would be best to temper expectations in the short term with the concept reportedly still mainly at the conceptual stage.

The Director and Vice President of NBA Mexico, Raul Zarraga, broke down what Silver’s words reflected in terms of actual plans at present with the notion of a further southern expansion of the G League to Rookie Wire.

“At this point, it’s an idea that the commissioner has on his mind,” explained Zarraga.

“In Mexico, we are completely focused on what we have right now, which is the Capitanes and their performance,” he continued.

So, while a bit of cold water to balance Silver’s exciting, expansive vision, it still hints at Latin America as a potentially massive avenue of expansion at least at the  G League level.

And, as ever, the dream of a full club based in the Mexican capital remains strongly on the horizon if still out of reach in the short and perhaps medium, term.

“If we were to have one day an NBA team here in Mexico City, there’s no doubt that would create even more interest and inspire more young people to play the game of basketball,” noted Silver at this year’s Mexico City Game.

And yet another full house rollicking with energy from tip to buzzer suggests the momentum towards such a goal has not slowed despite the pandemic.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 tag=650261333]

Story originally appeared on Rookie Wire