Karim López: The Mexican Promise Conquering World Basketball
In the concrete court where he forged his beginnings, a few meters from the center of Hermosillo, Sonora, the young NBA prospect and New Zealand Breakers star, Karim López, practices before the cameras. A passerby, upon recognizing him, approaches excitedly: “Is that you?”Karim smiles. The woman, visibly shocked, asks him for a selfie and an autograph. For López, this growing fame is a price he is willing to pay, aware that his career is taking off by leaps and bounds. At 6’9″ tall, it’s hard to go unnoticed, especially in his native Hermosillo, about 300 kilometers south of Phoenix.
After the session, a group of curious people gather, looking for photos and autographs. A man assures his wife that he is in front of a “great NBA star”.
And although it is not officially so yet, everything indicates that in a few months, López could become a celebrity for millions of fans in Mexico, the United States and beyond. He is about to be the first player born in Mexico to be selected in the first round of the NBA draft, joining a select group of Mexican players who have reached the league in almost 80 years.
“I was born playing basketball; I like to say I had a ball in my hand since I was born,” López stated.
Karim López
The second season of López in the National Basketball League of Australia (NBL) began in September. Over the next few months, NBA scouts will issue their final verdicts. Justin Tatum, coach of the Illawarra Hawks and father of Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, has highlighted López’s skill for his age and height, predicting an “immediate impact” in the Australian league. Comparisons have even been drawn with the legendary Julius Erving, “Dr. J”.
“His game fits well in the modern NBA,” commented Jeremy Woo, NBA draft analyst. “Teams are constantly looking for perimeter-oriented bigs who can pass, handle the ball, and shoot.”
Most forecasts place López in the top 10, which would make him the most valued Mexican prospect in NBA history. Eduardo Nájera, with more than 600 games in the league, is so far the only Mexican player drafted, selected by the Houston Rockets in 2000.
Basketball has been the central focus in López’s life, even since the day he was born. On April 12, 2007, basketball prevented his father from being present, but later it would become his path to success.“I wasn’t there when [Karim] was born,” recalls Jesus Hiram Lopez, Karim’s father. “I was in my final year of university, and I remember being nervous because my wife had been in labor for many hours.” Hiram, almost 1,500 miles away, could barely concentrate on his final exams, waiting for news from his wife, Claudia Mondaca, and his newborn son. It took him more than a month to meet Karim in person.
Since then, Hiram set out to be close to his family. He played professionally in Mexico, allowing Karim to accompany him on the court. The family fondly remembers Karim, barely a child, beginning his relationship with basketball under the lights of the gym.
“I used to go [with my father] to the games and try to help him,” Karim said. “When both teams went to the locker room, I would go out on the court and shoot a little.” Hiram encouraged Karim to join youth teams. Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora, has been influenced by American sports such as baseball and basketball, providing López with a consistent level of competition.
Like his father, Karim has been part of the Mexican national team for years, along with other players from Sonora such as Francisco Cruz and coach Omar Quintero. Despite his rapid development, there was a time when reaching the NBA seemed like a distant dream. Alejandro Leyva, López’s youth coach, recalls a crucial moment in which the young man boosted his career.
“As a child, Karim wasn’t one of the best players [on our team], it’s important to say,” Leyva commented. “Karim is part of a very talented group of players here in Sonora. He was the best player in training, but something happened during the matches. He wasn’t the same.”
At 12 years old, Leyva coached López in a youth tournament in Las Vegas, where things started to click for the young man. A year later, images of López’s dunks went viral in Mexico, attracting the attention of professional scouts.
In 2022, at the age of 14, the Spanish club Joventut Badalona offered him a contract. After two seasons and two titles with the youth team, López debuted as a professional in the 2023-24 season, receiving an offer from the Breakers in the NBL.
World-Class Talent
Last December, Mondaca traveled from Mexico to New Zealand to spend the Christmas holidays with Hiram and Karim in Auckland. It was the first time he had seen them in months. The López Mondaca family spent less than two weeks together before Claudia and Karim’s younger sister returned home.
“I think that’s the difficult part of his career, being constantly on the move. But I hope he enjoys it all and gets used to it, because it has become a ritual [for the family],” Mondaca said. “At one point, I supported my husband with his professional career, and it’s the same with my son.”
López has adapted to the NBL with ease. As part of the league’s Next Stars program, designed to attract young prospects and prepare them for the NBA, he is now mentioned alongside prominent names like LaMelo Ball, Alex Sarr, and Josh Giddey, who were selected in the top 6 of their respective drafts.
After his debut season with the Breakers, Lopez seems ready to join this group in the NBA. He was the youngest player in NBL history to achieve a double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds against the Sydney Kings. In January, he surpassed 20 points for the first time against the South East Melbourne Phoenix.
“What he’s doing is impressive, simply because there are very few players who have been able to follow that path from Mexico,” Woo said. “I think being in the top 10 [of the 2026 draft] is a possibility.”
López’s YouTube videos demonstrate why experts value him so highly. In his debut season, he averaged 9.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, with 22.9 minutes per game. Despite his height, he handles the ball like a point guard and moves with ease among defenders. His long arms allow him to perform spectacular blocks and dunks.
López knows his shot is a work in progress. However, he compares favorably to NBA players.
Dreaming of the Future
Everything indicates that he will be selected in the first round, a possibility that his family and friends await with cautious optimism. “There’s always a moment when you’re about to sleep and you start thinking about what could be,” said Lopez. “But I also try not to think about it too much because it could be a distraction.”
If he succeeds, López would become the fifth player born in Mexico to play in the NBA, a league that has tried to attract fans of Mexican descent. Mexican-American players like Juan Toscano-Anderson and Jaime Jaquez Jr. have become popular ambassadors for the more than 30 million NBA followers in the country.
Toscano-Anderson has gained popularity in Mexico City thanks to his two stages with the Capitanes de la G League, the first team in the NBA pyramid outside the U.S. or Canada. The NBA has regularly visited Mexico City, playing regular season games in full stadiums.
The arrival of López would be a great achievement for the league, catapulting him to fame as one of the few representatives of the country. For now, Karim enjoys a certain anonymity, focused on his work, but allowing himself to dream. “I hope LeBron is still there if I make it to the NBA,” said López. “Anything can happen, but I hope he’s there so I can play with or against my idol.”
“Anyway, I’m not [in the NBA] yet, I have to keep working to get to that moment and make my dreams come true.”
