¡Viva México! Will the NBA Ever Expand South of the Border Full Time?

October 15th, 2010 by Robert Kleeman Leave a reply »
Gary Neal caught Bobby Simmons' bullet pass and fired up the shot of his young NBA career. More than 18,000 fans raised their arms with his.

The crowd roared as Neal's last-second triple afforded the San Antonio Spurs a 100-99 lead. Chris Kaman could not follow up his tip-in on the previous possession with another heroic heave. This exciting Tuesday tilt—enthralling by preseason standards—took place,  the 19th game in Mexico City. No other non-NBA city has hosted more early October games.

The noise after Manu Ginobili sank a pair of first-quarter free throws was impressive, even on my mediocre TV speakers. He was the main attraction, and it showed. Tiago Splitter, San Antonio's heralded Brazilian rookie, did not play, thanks to an injury he suffered on the third day of training camp.

The Spurs' rally from an 18-point deficit to force a rapid-fire finish made the question I have been asking for years tougher to answer. Will David Stern ever install a full-time franchise in Mexico as he did north of the border twice in 1995?

If Toronto and Vancouver landed pro squads, why didn't Texas and California' ...

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