After two years absent, the Golden State Warriors are back in the NBA playoffs. Steve Kerr’s fifth had missed the knockout stage since he played in the finals in 2019; in 2020 he finished last in the conference and in 2021 he stayed in the Play-In.
However, the Warriors had a more than decent regular season, they were even leaders in the West at the beginning of the campaign, and the fact that they are in the playoffs represents good news for Mexico, since Juan Toscano will become the fourth Mexican to play in the postseason.
Despite not being a starter, Juan Toscano has had a solid season and from the bench he became not only an alternative, but also a spectacle, for which he was invited to the All-Star Weekend dunk contest, in which he finished second.
Which Mexicans have played in the NBA playoffs?
Before Toscano, three Mexican players played in the NBA playoffs, and we are talking about Eduardo Najera, Gustavo Ayon, and Jorge Gutierrez. Nájera was the first Mexican in the playoffs and is the one who collected the most experience from his time in the NBA.
The NBA postseason has not had a Mexican presence since 2016, so a streak of six years is broken, after golden times, in which the playoffs had Mexican representation in consecutive years from 2001 to 2010 and then from 2013 to 2016.
Eduardo Najera
By far he is the maximum Mexican representative in the NBA and left a mark of 59 games in the playoffs, in which he contributed 12 points from the 2001 to 2010 season. It is the only Mexican player to have reached a conference finaland it was in 2003, with the Dallas Mavericks, against the San Antonio Spurs.
In that season he got five points, which represents his best season in a postseason. Like Tuscan Nájera played for the Warriors, in 2004, although before the end of the season he was transferred to the Denver Nuggets, with whom he did not pass the first round, but contributed three points in four games.
Matches: 59
Points: 12
Highest instance: Conference Final
Average points per game: 4.9
Average minutes played: 18.1
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Gustavo Ayon
The native of Nayarit played the 2013 playoffs with the Milwaukee Bucks, against the Miami Heat. A certain LeBron James played on that team. Ayón’s experience was short, since he played three games, in which he added a total of seven minutes, so he is the Mexican who has played the least in the postseason.
He contributed four points, divided in the first two games of the series and although his career in the NBA, with the Atlanta Hawks, he no longer had a chance of revenge.
Matches: 3
Points: 4
Highest instance: First round
Average points per game: 1.3
Average minutes played: 2.3
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Jorge Gutiérrez, the last Mexican in the playoffs
He went through the Brooklyn Nets, Milwuakee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets and with each one he played playoffs between the 2014 and 2016 seasons. In the first he arrived and debuted in the second round against Miami.
With the Nets and Bucks he achieved two points with each one and with the Hornets he went blank, but at least he managed to play 27 minutes in six games.
Matches: 6
Points: 4
Highest instance: Second round
Average points per game: 0.6
Average minutes played: 4.5
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