Patty Talahongva
Indian Country Today
Shawn Martinez says he had rez dreams of the NBA every night he played basketball on the Navajo Nation.
He graduated from Window Rock High School in Arizona in 1985. His rez dreams continued when he played ball at Fort Lewis College, in Durango, Colorado, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in fine arts and communications.
That young boy from the rez made his dream come true.
Watch: Shawn Martinez talks role
Watch: Shawn Martinez talks basketball presentation
Martinez is part of the NBA and WNBA family. He’s the senior director of live presentation for the Phoenix Suns and the Phoenix Mercury. His job is to create an exciting atmosphere for the fans and the players. An atmosphere that’s conducive to winning.
“Growing up in Window Rock, playing at Window Rock High School, that kind of helped me get me where I am today,” he said.
Watch: Shawn Martinez talks his Native flare
He brings his experience as a player to his position, not on the court, but definitely courtside and definitely affecting the players and the fans.
His first NBA job was with the Denver Nuggets. He spent 12 years with and also had production jobs with other professional teams in Colorado, including the Broncos, the Rockies and the Avalanche.
Watch: Shawn Martinez talks career that brought him home
From there, his career took him to the NBA arena in Detroit. He worked for the Pistons for six years before finally landing the job that would bring him home.
It was actually the third time Martinez had applied to work with the Suns. It’s that tenacity that makes him good at what he does. He doesn’t give up.
“I want all the young Native kids (to) know that it’s possible to make it to the NBA,” he said. “Even if it’s not through basketball. I made it through this position and I worked as a coordinator, a manager, stage manager, director. And now I’m here as a senior director and I grew up on the reservation, you know, tribal clothes, all that commodity food. It doesn’t matter where you came from.”
Watch: Shawn Martinez talks Native youth
Martinez relates to issues facing Native youth and still encourages them to keep fighting for their dreams. “I’m not saying my life has been amazing. I’ve had obstacles in my life. Little things have popped up here and there, but I found a way to get around all the obstacles to make sure I got to this point in my life.”
And he works hard to maintain his career. The work starts once the NBA schedule is released in late summer. “We start laying everything out. We lay out all our theme nights. We lay out what we’re gonna do every Friday night, what we’re doing throughout the week. So each game has something, some kind of theme attached to it.”
And after all that pre planning before each game there are scripts to write and rehearsals to run through.
“Before the game, we write a script. We have rehearsals for all our dance routines. Rehearsals for all the dunk routines. Rehearsals for the gorilla skit. So all that stuff is just, is all in motion and we’re ready for whatever’s gonna be thrown at us.”
On game days he holds staff meetings to make sure everyone is on the same page. “Just make sure we’re on the same page and just step through the script, the more you step through the script, the more people know what’s happening and we’re ready for what we’re gonna go to battle with.”
As a player he knows what kind of mood the fans can create to help the team rally and win. For Martinez, it’s how he and his team create a home court advantage. Every t-shirt toss, dance performance and fan interaction is carefully planned.
When he came to the Suns and the Mercury, he added a “shoe cam,” where fans show off their shoes and the winner gets tickets to a concert or some other prize.
He arrived in Phoenix during the COVID-19 pandemic and then in his second season, both the Suns and the Mercury made it to the championship round.
“I mean, in my first year, who would, who would’ve thought I would be able to go to the NBA Finals and the WNBA Finals,” he laughs. Amazed at his good fortune.
And then he was called up to work at the NBA All Star game.
“It was really cool to be a part of and just see that, wow, all this goes into place to put on a show for three days, three consecutive days,” he said.
Watch: Shawn Martinez’s entertainment footprint
He directed basketball legends such as Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal.
“Shaq was there. We’re cuing him to go out. I mean, all those people you look up to growing up, we were standing right next to them and cuing them.”
“It’s been an amazing two years since I’ve been here,“ he says in awe of his first few years in Phoenix.
And always he thinks back to the games he played on reservations where the crowds can get rowdy and how that energy fills the gym and motivates the home team.
“When you feel the game and know what’s happening…if there’s an injury, if someone goes on a ten point run, you’re ready for that with a video or dance cam or something to just keep that energy going, cuz you don’t wanna lose the energy ever.”
That means paying attention to everything going on around him.
“I am feeling the game, watching the coach, watching what’s happening with the fans. So if there’s a timeout and we go on a run, I’m ready for a big song talking to the DJ.”
A highlight for him was planning Native American night at the Suns. Being in his home state has some advantages. He pulled up his list of contacts and was able to get pow wow dancers, someone who could sing the national anthem in Navajo and then he gathered flags from all 22 tribal nations to hang in the pavilion during the game.
“I mean, those are the little things, the little touch points that really made a difference to the Native Americans who came to the game, cuz they were like, ‘Wow, what is this? This is different.’ So next year we’re challenged to do something even bigger.”
They even had a t-shirt designed by a Native artist and were handed out to fans attending the game. He’s set a high bar that he intends to beat next season when it comes to honoring Indigenous people at the game.
“We’ll probably have 10 Native American heritage nights where we highlight each of the tribes in the state of Arizona,” he muses.
While he’s courtside for each home game he never forgets the fans in the nosebleed seats.
“The 200 level is always on top of mind. We do a thing called tees for three. So anytime we hit a three, we throw three t-shirts to certain sections. We always make sure we get up there. We make sure they’re taken care of and not forgotten. Cuz those fans up there mean just as much as the fans in the lower level.”
Watch: Shawn Martinez talks support system
Watch: Shawn Martinez loves his job
Martinez knows he’s lucky and he is where he is because of hard work and not letting obstacles prevent him from turning his dreams into reality.
Watch: Shawn Martinez talks game experience
“I mean, you’ll never work a day in your life, if you love your job, right? And I love this job.”
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