The Mexico City Capitanes kicked off their 2022-23 season with a press conference on Monday morning, sharing information about their first campaign in the Mexican capital after spending their inaugural season in the NBA’s developmental league based in Forth Worth, Texas due to the pandemic. all of their games for the 2021-22 campaign played in opponent arenas.
General Manager Nick Lagios, President of NBA Mexico Raúl Zárraga, and several other members of the Capitanes organization were present to get the press up to speed on some fairly eventful news. Among the most important was that the team would have a new home in the modern, spacious Arena CDMX in the north of the metropolis.
“It’s been a challenge to be away from our fans,” said team president Rodrigo Serratos. “We are happy to be back in Mexico City in a top-rate venue.”
The arena, home to the NBA Mexico Games last held in 2019 and resuming again this season with a contest between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs in December, will seat a maximum of 8,000 people for G League contests with ticket sales set to begin in September.
While the team only played 20 games due to the pandemic, the Captains are slated to play a full, 50-game schedule in 2022-23 per Lagios.
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“We were based out of Fort Worth (last season), so this year we’re based out of Mexico City,” explained the Capitanes General Manager.
“We’re going to have a home; we’re going to have a practice court, so that’s why we’re going to be doing the full 50-game season this upcoming year. We’re going to be playing just as many games as every other G league team this year.”
Perhaps the keystone to the NBA’s efforts to boost the sport’s profile in Latin America not only from a viewership perspective but also from a talent development angle, Lagios also explained how the club will help showcase from Latin America and Mexico in particular.
Asked what percentage of players would be from the Spanish-speaking world to the south of the US, the Capitanes GM replied “the majority of the roster. We’re shooting for eight out of 12 who will always be Latin American players.
“We’ll always have at least two Mexican players in the roster makeup. We’re going to do something similar to what we did last year. We’re going to try and get some younger Latin American prospects, and then some guys with NBA experience. And until our season ended, we were second in the league in call-ups.”
“We’re going to try and do the same thing this coming year,” added Lagios.
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The Capitanes’ top executive related how he’d previously had to work hard to get NBA veterans interested in joining the team before the team’s premier as a G League outfit, but has since seen that disappear and be replaced by enthusiastic interest from such players.
Concerns about the distance from other G League teams were played down given the availability of direct flights to Mexico City from other squads in the developmental league’s Western Conference often having less travel time than other G League cities without direct flights.
Similar concerns about cultural and language barriers for non-Latin American players were also downplayed by Lagios, who noted he’s been living in the area since the end of their last season seven months ago.
“I’ve been loving it,” he related, despite not knowing Spanish yet. “Where the players are going to live is Polanco,” he added, referring to one of the city’s more affluent areas. “They’re going to love it.”
“Actually, I thought some players would kind of be unsure about coming to Mexico City … but I’m seeing as a massive positive (that) a lot of players want to play in Mexico City, which is awesome,” Lagios smiled. “It makes my job a little bit easier.”
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Story originally appeared on Rookie Wire