Shawn Martinez finished up his third season as Senior Director of Live Presentation for the Phoenix Suns and Mercury. He oversees the strategy and execution of all in-game live production and entertainment elements for the organizations. Martinez’s leadership elevated the game day experience at the recently renovated Footprint Center, creating the best homecourt advantage in the NBA and WNBA.
Martinez played a pivotal role in the two-and-a-half-year development of the Suns’ ORIGINATIV platform, a symbolic turquoise City Edition uniform and basketball court honoring and celebrating Arizona’s 22 federally recognized indigenous tribes. The program and uniform details pay homage to the rich histories and cultures of the state’s Tribal Nations and celebrate their shared love of basketball.
Martinez grew up in Fort Defiance, Arizona, in the Navajo Nation and is an enrolled member of the Diné/Navajo Tribe. An athletic standout from Window Rock High School, Martinez continued his basketball journey at Fort Lewis College. He received his bachelor’s degree in communications and fine arts and launched an entertainment career under the stage alias DJ Tribal Touch.
Before joining the Suns and Mercury, his home state teams, Martinez spent 12 years with the Denver Nuggets and six years with the Detroit Pistons. An NBA veteran, Martinez has supported the strategy and execution of four NBA All-Star Games and produced both the 2021 NBA Finals and 2021 WNBA Finals in 90 days. Beyond basketball, Martinez regularly mentors Native youth and shares his indigenous roots and career journey at various events across the country. In 2022, Martinez performed at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian to celebrate Native veterans and the official dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. As DJ Tribal Touch, Martinez has performed coast to coast at some of sports and entertainment’s biggest events.