SAN ANTONIO — The 2022-23 San Antonio Spurs Hype Squad has a fresh look this season and it's all because of the city's popular sneaker artist, Dimas Martinez.
Martinez is widely known throughout the city for his custom sneaker creations, but instead of making the Squad's sneakers dazzle with all things Silver and Black, he used his talents to deck out the team members with incredible Spurs-themed jackets.
The custom jackets feature the city's well-known sights such as the Alamo, the Towers of the Americas, and of course, all things Spurs.
From the Coyote to the team's NBA title trophies, Martinez's jacket design captured what it means to be "Por Vida" fan.
"Back in June 2019, I took my boys, who were wearing my custom shoes and jackets, to a Spurs' Coyote meet-and-greet," Martinez told KENS 5. "I met the hype squad director, Anna Goff, and she took photos of my son's custom gear. She shared it with her boss and followed me on Instagram. Shortly after, Anna reached out asking for an estimate for 20-26 custom jean jackets that were to be used in the upcoming season."
And just like that, Martinez realized a dream -- to work with the Spurs and showcase his talents for the Hype Squad to get fans ready for home games.
However, it nearly never happened due to the pandemic.
"We started the process and I submitted a few Fiesta designs, which they liked. But, unfortunately, we had to come to a pause due to the pandemic," he said. "Luckily we ran back the communication during this off-season."
Once Martinez and the Spurs were back on track, they sifted through plenty of designs and kept narrowing them down over time.
When the final designs were approved, Martinez went to work.
In total, he says it took 300 work hours, but, it was worth it.
"That [design] number was narrowed down to five designs. One design for every four jackets. That process alone took a few weeks," added Martinez. "I’d say the actual time spent working on the jackets was roughly 300 hours total."
It took a village to get the work done.
Martinez recruited his family, his children, and friends to help him in outfitting the Hype Squad, and he is forever grateful.
"What adds even more weight to the importance of this project is having my family providing their helping hands during crunch time," said Martinez. "Big love and respect to the following: Gloria Martinez, Refugio Martinez, Brenda Pastrano, Stephen Martinez, Christina Martinez and Chelsea Aparicio."
Martinez credits his persistence to getting himself a commission from the Spurs. He admits he has been knocking on the Spurs' door for a long time trying to let him work with the franchise.
Now that it finally happens, he's still in disbelief that it came true.
"An official Spurs commission, that’s a dream for me," he said. "I kept knocking on their door, and they finally answered."
Despite the honor to work with the hometown team, Martinez remains grounded and is urging all to never give up on their dreams.
"Opportunities such as this don’t come often for the common folks of the West Side of San Antonio," he said. "But with strong faith, hard work, dedication, and true belief in ourselves, we can exceed in anything we set our mind to do."
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5