NBA G League To Add Mexico City Team

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NBA G League will add an expansion team based out of Mexico City.

The Mexico City Capitanes will make their debut during the 2021-22 G League season, but due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the team will be stationed in Fort Worth, Texas.

Without a home arena in Mexico City, the Capitanes will play their full season in opposing teams existing G League arenas.

ℹ️ · Press Release
Capitanes will participate in the 2021-22 @nbagleague season, pic.twitter.com/s3bmXPNeQk

— CAPITANES (@CapitanesCDMX) September 13, 2021

NBA commissioner Adam Silver first announced the league’s intention to expand to Mexico in 2017, and the Capitanes were officially designated as the first international team in 2019.

The Mexico City team had planned to make its G League debut during the 2020-21 season but abandoned those plans after the league announced it was moving its season to the Walt Disney World Resorts in Florida for an abbreviated 15 game G League season in February.

The Capitanes will mark the 30th team to join the G League, and only the second team that doesn’t have an NBA affiliate.

The G League Ignite which features former prep stars who decided to forgo college before hoping to enter the NBA is also unaffiliated and made their debut in the G League bubble last season.

The G League will return to Utah in November! #TakeNote | @slcstars https://t.co/2AIG2l0ohu

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 26, 2021

Currently, the Phoenix Suns and the Portland Trail Blazers are the only two NBA teams that don’t have a G League affiliate.

The Detroit Pistons will debut the Motor City Cruise, formerly known as the Northern Arizona Suns. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Pelicans have moved the Erie Bayhawks to Birmingham, Alabama where they will be rebranded as the Birmingham Squadron.

The G League has not announced its official schedule, though the season traditionally runs from early November through March.