Dakota Garcia

A small town kid tells about his experience behind the scenes of the extremely famous Dallas Maverick basketball team today. Justin Saunders grew up and went to high school in Athens, Texas a small town southeast of Dallas, Texas.

Saunders was only a sophomore in high school when he was offered to work for the Dallas Mavericks as a ball boy in 2003. Saunders explains his experience as a ball boy by being someone who would work the courts during the games. Working on the court included getting anything off of the court that would inhibit the players from performing at their best. Saunders himself was a very recognized and polished basketball player during this time. In high school, Saunders played in two state all-star basketball games, he even accepted a scholarship out of high school to play for LeTourneau University. Though he was a tremendous player in his area, he tells today that after working for the Mavericks it became clear to him that he would never play for an NBA team. After Saunders graduated High School in 2006 he started working at the Maverick basketball camps located all through out Dallas. That is where he developed the relationship with the man in charge of the camps who offered him a once in a lifetime opportunity to coach at the camps. Saunders has been working at these camps from 2006 to last year. During Saunders time working for the Mavericks he got to meet a lot of players, worked the all-star game in 2010, and went to two NBA finals. Saunders was also asked to do some out of the ordinary tasks while working for the team. Saunders said that he was asked to do thing such as whipping sweat off of the floor to coloring a basketball with a sharpie for an hour. When Saunders tried to explain the life style of the Maverick Basketball players he started by stating that “they have more money than you could ever spend in your lifetime.” Saunders also goes on to say that, “when I think of an NBA athlete, a lot of people out there have the skills and the physical requirement to be an professional athlete, but only a small amount of them really put in the time and effort to take their skills from good to an excellent level. During the season you won’t see them doing a lot of things because they are so focused on basketball.” During off-season Saunders goes on to explain that the Maverick players “have a lot of hobbies outside of basketball.” Saunders gives two examples of a player that likes to work on and collect cars during off season, and a player who likes to be a disc jockey when he is not playing basketball for the Mavericks. Saunders was not only surrounded by famous athletes but he states that he got to see a lot of famous people that attended Maverick games while he was working for them. Saunders said that the most famous person he ever saw was rapper LiL Wayne and it was so interesting to watch him and his Young Money crew because anytime they left the stand they had at least ten security guards around them at all times. Saunders did not neglect his education during this exciting time in his life. He went to college and graduated from SFA in 2010 with his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and despite acceptance into Master of Business Administration programs at Ole Miss and Tulane University, Saunders decided to stay at SFA and continue his education. After graduating from the MBA program at SFA in December, Saunders said that his future plans are to work for an oil and gas company located in Dallas, Texas in the accounting or finance department. Despite the exciting moments working for the Mavericks, Saunders said that the workers there put in long hours and do not get paid that much. Saunders also states, “working for a professional team is not as glamorous as it looks”.