G League Expanding to Mexico City

The NBA, with its current league champions reigning from Canada, will be expanding its main developmental league to the south of the United States border.

The G League will have Capitanes, a professional team currently based in Mexico City, join the league as its 29th team for the 2020–2021 season. It will be the first time that the G League will expand into Mexico; the Toronto Raptors’ G League affiliate is based in Mississauga, Ontario.

“Bringing an NBA G League team to Mexico City is a historic milestone for the NBA, which demonstrates our commitment to basketball fans in Mexico and across Latin America,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “We look forward to welcoming Capitanes to the NBA family.”

Capitanes will play their NBA G League home games at the Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera in Mexico City. Capitanes, which was established in 2016, competes in Mexico’s Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional. The expansion announcement was made at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico prior to the Dallas Mavericks taking on the Detroit Pistons as part of The NBA Mexico Games 2019 presented by Nike.

“The NBA G League has long been focused on growing the game in Latin America and internationally. Having a team in Mexico City is an important step in realizing that vision,” said G League President Shareef Abdur-Rahim. “I’m proud to welcome Capitanes to the G League and look forward to watching the team play at Gimnasio Juan de la Barrera next season.”

Capitanes will play in the G League for an initial term of five years. The team is owned and operated by Moisés Cosío and a group of minority investors. The schedule for the 2020–2021 G League season, which tips off in November 2020, will be announced in August 2020.

“Capitanes is honored to be the NBA G League’s 29th team and first from Mexico,” said Gilberto Hernández, one of Capitanes’ co-owners. “This is a landmark moment not only for our organization, but for the game of basketball and our passionate fans in Mexico. We are thrilled to be a part of the NBA family and can’t wait to begin competing in the G League next season.”