Mexican basketball sensation López has NBA teams on alert

Karim López has had his first contact with the NBA in a recent preseason friendly between his New Zealand Breakers team and the Utah Jazz. The match, held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City in front of over 14,000 fans ended with a 116-87 win for the Jazz against the Australian National Basketball League team. However, despite the setback, teenager Karim López shone on the night on the big stage.

The player from Sonora in Mexico is the son of ‘Chino’ López, a former national team player with the 17-year-old catching the eye in the game in Utah with: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. He started the game on the bench, but he was the substitute who ended up with most playing time, on court for 25 minutes. He did a capable job in marking Jazz star, Walker Kessler, in the first period and along with Jonah Bolden, he was the second highest scorer for the Breakers on the night.

At the end of the match, the former Joventut de Badalona (Spain) player declared that he was happy with his performance but also left room for self-criticism. “I showed that I can compete with these players. I have to keep working. There is still a long way to go, but I will keep working. I will be fine,” he said in statements to NBL Media.

López, 17, chose to continue his career away from European basketball and moved to the Australian NBL prospect development program, from which up to 13 NBA-bound players have emerged since 1999. The prospects point to him being a high pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. In addition, he signed a contract in August with the Excel Basketball agency, which counts figures such as Caitlin Clark and Nikola Jokic in its portfolio.

Sixers and OKC

The Breakers then faced the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma Thunder in two further preseason games with the NBA side winning out on both counts with Lopez being rested for both contests.

The Breakers have made a solid start to the domestic NBL25 season winning both opening games.