MEXICO CITY — Luka Doncic won over the Mexican crowd before Thursday’s game at Arena Ciudad de México even began. In the moments before the tipoff of the league’s 29th game played in Mexico, Doncic took the microphone and asked them in Spanish how they were doing. “Hola México,” he said, “¿Cómo estás?” He added some further pleasantries. And then he said this.
“¡Viva México, güey!”
Listen to the resulting noise. It was a surprised cheer, one that rose in volume as the crowd processed what was said. Viva México, of course, essentially means “long live Mexico.” It’s an expression of solidarity and support for the nation frequently shared among countrymen. But güey, pronounced and sometimes spelled wey, is a slang term used to refer to people without using their name. We do that constantly in English: “Hey, man,” “Yo, dude,” “What’s up, guy,”…
