JTA explains importance of repping Mexico at All-Star weekend originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Juan Toscano-Anderson made history at the 2022 NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in Cleveland.
JTA became the first Mexican-American player to participate in the contest. And he was certainly proud of that.
Toscano-Anderson showed up on Saturday not only representing Dub Nation, but also his heritage.
Swagged out from head to toe repping Mexico, JTA made it to the final round of the contest and finished in second place behind Obi Toppin.
After the big night was over, Toscano-Anderson explained to reporters the significance of showing off his Mexican pride.
“It’s always important to me,” Toscano-Anderson said. “Just because that’s half of who I am and also that’s where my career started. That league gave me a chance, and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t play in that league so that’s my way of saying thank you to that league and to the people that helped me there, and also just putting my heritage on the platform. This is the biggest platform in sports, I feel, after the Super Bowl and NBA Finals.”
As the only Mexican-American player currently in the league, JTA has never shied away from showing love to his country.
After playing collegiate ball at Marquette, he went undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Toscano-Anderson then joined Soles de Mexicali, a Mexican professional basketball team based in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, playing in the Northern Division of the Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional.
Even after leaving Mexico and returning to Northern California, wearing a different jersey and playing with new teammates, Toscano-Anderson never stopped showing off his pride.
Mexicans and Mexican-Americans continue to show a tremendous amount of support for the 28-year-old.
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As just the fifth Mexican player in the NBA – behind former players Eduardo Nájera, Horacio Llamas, Jorge Gutiérrez and Gustavo Ayón – Toscano-Anderson recognizes and acknowledges his unique situation.
Viva la Raza.
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