Karim Lopez Just Became The First Player Born In Mexico Ever Drafted In The First Round Of The NBA Draft

Karim Lopez made history Tuesday night at Barclays Center when the Detroit Pistons selected him with the 21st overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, making him the first player born in Mexico ever chosen in the first round of the NBA Draft.

He did not stay in Detroit long. The Pistons traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies on the same night as part of the deal in which Memphis moved back from picks 16 and 17 to acquire Lopez at 21 along with five second-round picks.

Lopez, a 7-foot-1 center, was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and played his most recent professional basketball for the New Zealand Breakers in the NBL, the Australian league, where his combination of size, shot-blocking and developing perimeter skill attracted NBA attention.

He joins a Grizzlies frontcourt that already includes Zach Edey and Cameron Boozer, the third overall pick earlier in the same draft, giving Memphis one of the most physically imposing young frontcourt combinations in the league.

The significance of the moment was not lost on Lopez or anyone in the building. Mexico has sent players to the NBA before, Jorge Gutierrez appeared in 71 career games across parts of four seasons, and the late Eduardo Najera played 11 seasons as a second-round pick and undrafted contributor, but no player born in Mexico had ever been selected in the first round until Lopez heard his name called Tuesday night.

"I want to make history for Mexico," Lopez had said in the weeks before the draft. He did.