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Basketball is an important part of life for kids on the Navajo Reservation and Legendary Coach Raul Mendoza of Holbrook has been singled out for his efforts in helping kids live their dreams on the court despite challenges they may face in other aspects of life.
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On Aug 2, Netflix aired a six-part docuseries called “Basketball or Nothing” shadowing Mendoza and the Chinle High School boys basketball team on their journey through the 2017-2018 season and into the playoffs.
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Strained home lives with absent parents, alcoholism and living in a remote community, were just a few of the obstacles spoke of in the series. As a young boy, Mendoza faced many of the same hardships. “My dad left when I was a one-year-old and my mom. I was raised by my grandmother.” He attended school and overcame each obstacle as he graduated high school, then college. Mendoza took his first head coaching job in Window Rock in 1979 and eventually moved to Holbrook in 1989. Mendoza worked in Holbrook until 1993 and left but returned in 2001 and stayed until his retirement.
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That was until the athletic director for the Chinle School District, Shaun Martin, sought out Mendoza for the head coach position at the high school. Martin said when it was time to hire a coach, he knew he had to get Mendoza.
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“He has a reputation of being an outstanding human being and an amazing person. I view these kids as my own and the way that I looked at it with Coach Mendoza was, this is who I’d want to coach my kids,” said Martin.
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Throughout his career, Mendoza has had his share of the spotlight. As Martin put it, “His resume is through the roof. It’s proof that being a good person makes him a great coach.”
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The coach who was responsible for leading Holbrook to the state basketball championship and bringing back the title in 2011, was also once assisted by former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for a year. By 2017 it seemed Mendoza had already lived the life of a well accomplished coach and educator. Then fate intervened through an article written in the New York Times about Mendoza and his coaching with the Chinle boys’ team on the Navajo Reservation.
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Martin was contacted by a production company named The Workshop. They explained that they were impressed by the piece written in The New York Times and “wanted to take the article to another level and do a documentary,” Martin said. After pitching their idea to Netflix, they were given the green light and made their way to Chinle to start filming.
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Everyone involved was given non-disclosure agreements to ensure no one would talk about the series before its debut. Throughout the series, the humble personalities of both Mendoza and his players were obvious. When asked if it was distracting for him or his players, Mendoza said, “I think the experience with Mr. Jabbar helped me prepare for this situation,” explaining that publicity proved to be a distraction in the past and he wanted to keep this team grounded. Much like their coach, Martin said the boys remained humble through the whole experience.
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Martin explained that when they released the docuseries, the school hosted a viewing. “Even though I knew what happened, I still got choked up,” is how Martin described what it was like to see the coach he spoke so highly of and the boys who have overcome these challenging hurdles.
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Mendoza expressed that he was grateful for the opportunity to work with the team and be part of this journey. Humble as he is, he didn’t offer too much about himself as he took part in the experience but said, “They did well, they stayed focused.” Since wrapping up almost two years ago most of the team has graduated with only four of the boys still attending high school. “I’ve seen some of the boys since they graduated, they stop in and say hello, they are doing great.”
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The exposure provided by the experience will not be ending soon. Mendoza didn’t have specific details but noted that there will be a book about the docuseries coming out in November.
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