The Atlanta Hawks announced they will be playing a game in Mexico City against the Orlando Magic this coming season on November 9. All sides have weighed in on an organizational level and now so has Hawks star Trae Young.
“This should be fun! See ya soon,” Young tweeted in the wake of the announcement. He did not stop there, though, expressing himself in Spanish too.
“no puedo esperar para ir a mexico,” he said in a follow-up tweet.
The Hawks will be playing in their first game in Mexico City while this will be the Magic’s fourth go-round in Arena CDMX. A week of festivities in the city “including NBA Cares community outreach” will conclude with the Mexico City Capitanes taking on the Osceola Magic, per a statement released on Hawks.com on July 25.
Here is how fans can get their hands on tickets to the game:
"NBA ID members interested in attending The NBA Mexico City Game 2023 can register their interest in tickets and receive access to an exclusive ticket pre-sale that will take place Monday, Aug. 14 – Tuesday, Aug. 15 by visiting www.nbaenmexico.nbaid.mx. Tickets for the game will go on sale to Banco Azteca card holders from Wednesday, Aug. 16 – Friday Aug. 18 and to the public on Saturday, Aug. 19."
Interested fans can also visit https://nbaexperiences.com/nba-mexico-city-game-2023 for premium ticket packages, per the release.
Hawks star Dejounte Murray also weighed in on the trip.
Dejounte Murray is looking forward to the Hawks' Mexico City game too. #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/FWqObPZ1c3
— Josh Buckhalter (@JoshGBuck) July 27, 2023
The Hawks went 3-1 against the Magic and No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero last season.
“Orlando was no slouch,” Young said on the Jue 9 episode of ‘From the Point by Trae Young’. “You knew you were gonna have a tough game because you had the , Markelle played really well for them this year.”
Both teams added top guard prospects in the 2023 NBA Draft with Orlando selecting Anthony Black with the No. 6 overall pick and Atlanta taking Kobe Bufkin No. 15 overall.
Last year’s first meeting between the Hawks and Magic was charged by the pre-existing tension between Banchero and Murray. But that was water under the bridge soon after, and Young recently named Banchero as a second-year player he was looking forward to seeing this coming season.
Hawks’ Trae Young had high praise for Magic’s Paolo Banchero
“You can tell he’s their franchise guy going forward,” Young said on that same episode. “He’s a leader…Usually, the really good players make that second-year jump so I’m looking to see what he does.”
https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1605020169906319360
These are two teams in different stages in terms of being competitors with the Hawks coming off of three straight playoff appearances and the Magic riding a three-year drought.
But, as Young noted, they were already tougher than their record may have let on and only figure to be better with Banchero a year wiser.