Marshallese sing at Spurs-Thunder basketball game

The Marshallese students in the Enid High School Multi-Cultural Choir posed for a photo at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the OKC Thunder, where they sang the national anthem before the tip off of the Spurs-Thunder game. Photo: Jennifer Patterson.
The Marshallese students in the Enid High School Multi-Cultural Choir posed for a photo at the Chesapeake Energy Arena, home of the OKC Thunder, where they sang the national anthem before the tip off of the Spurs-Thunder game. Photo: Jennifer Patterson.

The most popular sport in the Marshall Islands (and among Marshallese everywhere) is basketball. Despite this popularity, usually the closest Marshallese get to an NBA game is watching on TV or sitting in row 97 in a 20,000+ seat arena.

So how about stepping onto the court before a Western Conference showdown between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder and being a key part of the kick off for play? A group of Marshallese students who are in the Enid High School Multi-Cultural Choir distinguished themselves by singing the American national anthem to launch this big game last week in OKC.

The group’s Music Director Max Johnson and his assistant Ethan Snowden, along with Marshallese Liaison for Enid High School Ashlynn Joash and Jennifer Patterson, played vital roles in preparing the students for the NBA spotlight.

Unfortunately for the OKC home side, the Spurs came back in the final minute to nip the Thunder despite the ongoing heroics of Russell Westbrook, who is on the verge of breaking Oscar Robertson’s 55-year-old record for most triple-doubles in a season.

Read more about this in the April 7, 2017 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.