The Mexico Aztecas (or ''Mexico City Aztecs'', ''Aztecas de México'') team was a professional basketball team in the
Continental Basketball Association (CBA). Created as an experiment in fielding a team outside the United States and Canada, it played one season, the 1994-95 season.
History
One of the largest cities in the Western Hemisphere, Mexico City has a significant fan interest in basketball. In 1994, the owner of the
Fargo-Moorhead Fever
The Fargo-Moorhead Fever were a professional basketball team based in the Fargo–Moorhead metropolitan area on the North Dakota–Minnesota border. The Fever were members of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) for two seasons, from 1992 t ...
, Doug Logan, decided to move his team to the Mexican capital; in earlier incarnations, the club had played as the
Detroit Spirits (1982/83 to 1985/86), the
Savannah Spirits (1986/87 to 1987/88), the
Tulsa Fast Breakers
The Savannah Spirits were a professional basketball team that played for two years in the Continental Basketball Association from 1986 to 1988, amassing a total regular season record of 42 wins and 60 losses for a total of 306.5 points. The team ...
(1988/89 to 1990/91) and the
Tulsa Zone (1991/92).
[San Diego Wildcards history, stats, career at Basketpedya.com]
Accessed on 2009/09/25.
The Aztecas played their home games at the
Palacio de los Deportes
() is an indoor arena located in Mexico City, Mexico. It is within the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City complex, near the Mexico City International Airport and in front of the Foro Sol, in which sports and artistic events are also celebrated. It i ...
(Sports Palace), where they were supported by a popular cheerleading squad. This was the same facility in which the United States basketball team won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics.
Mack Calvin
Mack Calvin (born July 27, 1947) is an American former basketball player. A five-time ABA All-Star, Calvin recorded the second most assists in ABA history, and was later named to the ABA All-Time Team.
High school career
Calvin was born in Fort W ...
was named the new head coach and general manager. The Aztecas opened their season on November 18, 1994, at the
Oklahoma City Cavalry
The Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry was a professional basketball team based in Lawton, Oklahoma. They played in the Premier Basketball League after having been in the Continental Basketball Association. They have one PBL championship and also were ...
. Two days later, they went on to delight their fans with a 90-88 win over the
Chicago Rockers
The Chicago Rockers were a men's professional basketball team based in Chicago from 1994 to 1996. The Rockers competed in the American Conference of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). The team was owned by Chris Devine, a Chicago busi ...
in their first home game. Attendance at the Palacio was 8,295.
During the season, the Aztecas produced at least two NBA call-ups,
Steve Henson in early November and
Greg Grant in 1995. The Aztecas also drafted Andy Olivarez, formerly of USC and a member of the Mexico National Team, and is considered the best player in CIMEBA and on the national team them. On February 10, 1995 the team lost 159-154 to the
Tri-City Chinook
The Tri-City Chinook were a professional basketball team based in Kennewick, Washington. They played 4 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketball Association (NBA). The te ...
in double overtime; this, despite the fact that Mexico City was nearly one hundred times the size of the Chinook's home of
Kennewick, Washington
Kennewick () is a city in Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima rivers and across from the confluence of the ...
, possibly the largest disparity in North American sports history.
Despite a 19-37 record (missing the playoffs), the Aztecas' home attendance was huge by CBA standards, with several announced crowds over 9,000. In their final home game of the season, they beat the
Omaha Racers
The Omaha Racers were an American minor league basketball team based in Omaha, Nebraska. The franchise played in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1989 to 1997. The team's franchise liage started in 1982 as the Wisconsin Flyers. Th ...
124-109 before 12,587 fans, an all-time record for the CBA.
But it wasn't enough to keep the team south of the border. In December 1994, the Mexican
peso
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...
crashed, losing half of its value against the U.S. dollar, ultimately costing over a million Mexicans their jobs in the recession that followed. Most of the Aztecas' expenses, primarily player salaries, were in American dollars, but revenues, including ticket sales, were in the now devalued peso. Logan could not afford another season in Mexico. On September 20, 1995, the Aztecas announced their move to San Diego, as the
San Diego Wildcards. They played just 21 games there (with a 4-17 record in front of much smaller crowds than the ones in Mexico) before folding in January 1996.
Roster
''Source''
*
Dexter Boney
*Mark Boyd
*Craig Brown
*Joey Brown
*Luther Burks
*
Demetrius Calip
*James Carter
*Derrick Chandler
*
Joe Courtney
*
Greg Grant
*Al Hamilton
*
Steve Henson
*
Alex Holcombe
*
Kermit Holmes
Kermit Leanell Holmes (born March 27, 1969) is an American basketball coach and former professional player. After sitting our his first year of college basketball due to Proposition 48, he played three years with the Oklahoma Sooners, being selec ...
*
Byron Irvin
*
Ryan LorthridgeFan posting
/ref>
*Jorge Manzano
* Alan Ogg
*Andy Olivarez
*Scott Paddock
*Stan Rose
* Fred Vinson
* Leonard White
{{colend
References
Continental Basketball Association teams
Defunct basketball teams in Mexico
Sports teams in Mexico City