The Miami Heat and Washington Wizards are slated to face off in Mexico City for a regular season game on November 2.
Over the summer, it was reported that the NBA was sending the Miami Heat and the Washington Wizards to Mexico City to play a regular season on November 2. As the NBA continues to expand its presence across the globe, it's not surprising to see the league schedule a game in Mexico, especially considering its grand history of it.
Nevertheless, the NBA will send one of its marquee franchises in the Heat to showcase the NBA game. Considering that the Heat is one of the most popular teams in the NBA, the decision to send Miami to Mexico for a game was not surprising. The Wizards, even though they are in the early stages of a rebuild, do make some sense due to the young talent they have on their roster.
The Heat and Wizards should be able to put on a good game for the crowd in Mexico City during the early portion of the regular season.
The NBA's history of games in Mexico
The NBA does have a long history of playing games in Mexico over the past few decades. In fact, the NBA has played more games in Mexico than in any other country outside of the United States and Canada. Since 1992, the NBA has held 32 games in Mexico - with the latest of such events featuring the Heat and Wizards.
It will be the only NBA game in Mexico this season, with more likely expected in the future. Last season, the Atlanta Hawks beat the Orlando Magic in a thrilling game in Mexico City.
The NBA's Mexico City game is just one of several league events that will take place off USA/Canada soil this year. In addition, the NBA has a pre-season showcase slated to take place in Abu Dhabi and then regular season games schedule for Paris in January
As the NBA continues to take the lead in exporting the game of basketball across the globe, you'd have to imagine this is just the start of what the international schedule could look like 5-10 years from now.
And as the sport of basketball continues to grow outside of the USA and Canada, the NBA is probably going to expand its horizons across the globe as well.