Hi, I'm Damian Martin from the Perth Wildcats
and I'm going Back to School with Student Edge.
Hi, I'm Simon Miraudo and today we're going Back to School with Damian Martin.
Damian thanks for chatting to us today.
My pleasure.
What were you like as a teenager?
As a teenager I grew up in a country town, so I was a typical country town boy where
it was as much sport as possible outside of school and because we didn't have a whole
lot else to entertain ourselves
just hanging out with friends, getting up to you know a little bit of mischief, but overall
just embracing country lifestyle.
So my best friend had plenty of horses, so we might be out there one weekend doing a
bit of cattle work and then the next weekend would be you know going around kicking a football
or shooting a basketball, so it was pretty quiet, but I loved it, it was purely based
on family and friends.
Nice.
Equestrian wasn't the sport of choice you wanted to go down?
I was a horrible horse rider, so... I actually broke my wrist once, it ruled me out for about
six weeks, so after that you know I haven't ridden a horse all that often, but I love
it. I love getting back home as often as possible and getting out on my mate's farm, but in saying
that I was useless when it came to any cattle work.
Well as you kind of said, you were always kind of waiting to get out there on the
field.
Did you enjoy being in the classroom at all?
Were there any subjects you did shine in or was it pretty much waiting for the bell ring,
to get out into the court?
I didn't hate school at all, I didn't embrace it, but I didn't mind going there when there
was a social aspect to it or there were a few classes in particular I'd enjoyed such as
geography and English.
And obviously PE - the sport. But overall I was lucky I went... There was only one high
school in Gloucester, so everyone that you know, you'd see in the class would be the
same people, you'd see walking down the main street of town, so it was nice in that aspect
that you know it has a tight knit community and spent all the time in the classroom with
them or out on the field playing sport.
So how do you make the decision then, that basketball will be the career you kind of,
like the path you go down?
Was that always the plan?
From the beginning this is what you wanted to do with your life?
Basketball was a sport I excelled at, but in saying that.
there was not enough numbers in Gloucester to continue playing representative basketball
as a fifteen-year-old.
So my dad offered me the opportunity to go and play for a team in the Hunter Valley, so
I chose Lake Macquarie, which is down near Newcastle.
And it’s funny when you grow up, you don’t realise how selfish you are, it's only in
hindsight, you know I was the one complaining about having to get into the
car for an hour and a half each drive each way, back and forth. You know dad was working
all day, knocking off work and then taking me to Newcastle. Three hours of driving plus two
hours, you know, watching me train.
Did that twice a week, mid-week and then again on weekends while mum was at home taking care
of four kids.
Like I said I was the one that kept complaining having to spent some much in a car.
The sacrifices they made for that twelve months in particular was just incredible looking
back at it, but after the twelve months, I got sick of traveling and so I made the decision
to quit basketball and just focus on rugby league, which all my friends at home were
playing. We had enough numbers top play locally, so after twelve months of rugby league and
you know not having touched the basketball, it was actually Rob Beveridge my former coach here
in Perth.
Back then he was the New South Wales Institute of Sport coach and he called my father and
I, and, you know, asked if we'll be willing to meet him at Raymond Terrace, which was an hour
drive away at the local McDonald's.
Not having McDonald's in town, it seemed like a great idea to get out of Gloucester for
the afternoon, but it was the first time that anybody had really opened my eyes to the future
basketball could offer if I worked hard enough.
You know he made me picture myself in five or ten years. What sport would I see myself
in? What would be my ultimate goals?
And ever since the '92 Barcelona Olympics where my eldest brother and I would watch
as much sport as possible and tape it on the old VHS and re-watch it.
I always dreamed of being an Olympian and when I told him that, between my goal of wanting
wanting to be an Olympian and how he saw my future panning out
if I went to basketball, you know I promised him I would quit rugby league that day. He
offered me a scholarship to the New South Wales Institute of Sport for basketball and
the rest is history.
So you got that scholarship, but I understand that you also played college ball in the US.
Can you tell me a little about this?
It was incredible how after quitting basketball, going to rugby league, but then coming back,
how quickly things started to turn around and based on - Bevo gave me that News South
Wales scholarship to the Institute of Sport and then I went from there to the Australian
Institute of Sport and while I was there Matty Knight was one of my teammates who's currently
a teammate here in Perth, but also there was Andrew Bogut who's obviously in the NBA now
and a bunch of other guys who have gone on to represent Australia.
And Matty and I both got scholarships offered to us to go attend Loyola Marymount University
in Los Angeles. And you know it's funny these days the Aussie kids will get flown over there
and they try to sell the campus to them, sell the lifestyle. We made a decision based on
a DVD they sent us. So like, "Yeah that looks pretty nice, let's do it."
So we agreed to heading over there to continue our studies, so it was amazing and everybody
growing up through basketball that wants to continue on, not everyone can play professionally,
but I try to encourage them to get over and you know to America and you get a degree paid
for, continue your education and the basketball's amazing and hopefully if that leads to a professional
job either in Australia or abroad, fantastic.
Otherwise at least you got a degree.
What was your degree in over there?
A teaching degree essentially so equivalent, but I never go to do the prac work so if I
want to be a school teacher here in Australia I've got to get back in the classroom for
a few more classes.
The irony.
Yeah exactly right, exactly right.
If I want to teach I better learn first.
But in saying all of that, it was the most fun four years of my life. Unfortunately I
missed a season through an injury, but you know - enjoyed lifestyle of living abroad, college
lifestyle where they really embrace, you know passion for their school, their alumni and then as a whole,
four years living in Los Angeles as an Australian was just amazing to do it alongside a friend
in particular.
So four years over there was like a bad comedy movie with, have everything you can think
of with the sororities, the fraternities, the jocks, so on and so forth, but to come
back here, to my first professional job in Sydney, and have two years in Sydney and now,
you know, seventh season over here in Perth, it’s just gone by so quickly.
Is that something you knew you would be part of this career, traveling so much to kind
of, not get work, but to play for these different teams and to get these experiences. Is that
something you accepted or even excited about early on or is it something you got adjust
to?
Yeah, it’s one thing that's always appealed to me you know, going back to that '92 Olympic
dream.
Unfortunately there's some sports that's obviously embraced here in Australia whether
it's AFL, rugby league, rugby union with the fifteens, but isn't played in the Olympics.
It made that decision a little bit easier that if I was ever going to attain that goal,
it was a no brainier to give up rugby league for basketball.
But the traveling is just amazing and really is a world sport and whereas playing world
championships in Turkey in one year or the Olympics in Rio, outside of those two things
I'll be lucky enough as a junior to travel around and have these stay in accommodation
I could never afford personally, but because I was with a team or through the university,
it's all paid for and regardless if I'd ever made it as a professional athlete
I'd look back at those basketball years and be very grateful for the parts of the world
I got to see through a basketball.
One of those parts of the world is Rio, you played for the Rio 2016 Australian team and
you came pretty close to beating the Dream Team as well.
I have to ask when you’re facing off against guys like Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving, Kevin
Durant who you stole the ball from and everyone is very happy about.
I mean what is it like going up against those kind of titans? Is it the equivalent of any
other basketball match you might play or does it feel different?
Yeah, it's funny, because we had some many guys in the Boomers team that are already
in the NBA, you know they're not star struck by any name or any player.
The amount of confidence they instilled in the rest of their group. It was amazing. So we
went into that game genuinely believing we could beat them and secondly trying to not
get caught up in any type of star struck, you know being star struck at all.
In saying all of that though, you know I’m the first to admit that usually in Australia
I would train, go home sit on the couch and watch an NBA game, so to go from that to then
having a scouting report put in front of me, two days out from the game where I'm reading,
you know how we're going to guard Klay Thompson or how we're going to guard Kevin Durant.
That's where it kind of hit home, that yeah this is happening, so that being a bit star
stuck probably happened when I read scouting report and watched the scouting video.
But once we stepped on the court to play them, it really was out the window and you know
as corny as it sounds, it really was treated as another game, albeit, it was against
the Dream Team.
On top of that, you are also now a playable character in NBA 2K, what is that like?
Have you played yourself on the court?
I never played it to be honest, I'm not much of a gamer, but it's funny, you know usually
after a win or a loss I get messages from people I never met, through social media either
telling me how to play better or congratulating me on a few things.
But now I probably get more emails about someone telling me, "Hey I crossed you up on 2K today."
Or, "Hey made some shots in 2K."
But the funny thing is, somebody sent me a picture.
It doesn't look anything like me and I'm pretty sure I play right handed, so I'm actually
left handed, but in 2K - I don't think they spent much time on my player, I think they
were more focused on some of the bigger names, but it is pretty cool.
In 2K 18, they'll fix it.
2K 18 I might be left handed.
Damian, thanks so much for your time today.
My pleasure.
Thanks mate.
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