One of Cooper Flagg’s first NBA games will presumably take place out of the country.
The Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons will play a regular-season game in Mexico. The NBA announced the game on Tuesday. It will take place on Nov. 1 at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City and coincide with the Dia de Muertos celebration in Mexico.
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The Mavericks, who reside hours from the U.S.-Mexico border, are frequent visitors to Mexico. They’ve played in eight of the 34 NBA games that have been hosted in Mexico. The Pistons will be making their third appearance for a game in Mexico.
The game will be an early-season matchup of two teams with intriguing upside. It’s expected to feature Flagg, one of the most anticipated NBA prospects in years. The Mavericks are expected to select Flagg with the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
Flagg will join a roster that includes perennial All-Stars Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving that Mavericks management hopes will compete for a championship a season after initiating the controversial trade of Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers. Irving is coming of an ACL tear and isn’t expected to be ready to return in time for the Mexico game.
The Pistons are fresh off a dramatic one-season turnaround in which they improved from an NBA-worst 14-68 to 44-38 in 2024-25. A young core featuring All-Star Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson led the Pistons to the No. 6 seed in the playoffs, where they lost to the New York Knicks in the first round. The Pistons could be poised to take another step forward in 2025-26.
