Thursday’s game will be played on Suns’ ORIGINATIV court, which pays tribute to the 22 Tribal Nations of Arizona
To continue celebrating the cultures that define the Valley, the Phoenix Mercury will host Native American Night presented by Gila River Resorts & Casinos and Native American Basketball Invitational (NABI) on July 20 when the team welcomes the Chicago Sky to Footprint Center. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
To mark the evening’s celebration of the 22 Tribal Nations of Arizona and the Indigenous community, the Mercury will play Thursday night’s game on the ORIGINATIV court introduced last year by the Phoenix Suns and updated with Mercury branding.
The court design features a PHX wordmark and medicine wheel at center court with the 22 translations for ‘sun’ along the perimeter. The medicine wheel is a symbol used by Native American tribes to represent the cycles of life and the four cardinal directions. The 22 feathers of the medicine wheel represent Arizona’s 22 federally recognized Indigenous tribes. To match the court, the Mercury will wear their black uniforms with ‘PHX’ across the front.
Among the activations in store for fans in attendance:
- Live performance pregame from the Native American Drum Group from Iron Creek.
- Native American Songstress Shaylin Shabi will perform the national anthem in her native Diné (Navajo) language.
- Live performance at halftime by Chi’Chino Spirit Pima dancers from the Gila River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.
- The Mercury will present Melody Lewis with the Believe in Women Award, an honor that highlights impactful women in sports, business and philanthropy making an impact in their communities. Raised on the Fort Mojave Indian Reservation, Lewis has dedicated her professional life to empowering Native American communities through her social enterprise Indigenous Community Collaborative, which provides businesses training resources for Indigenous inclusion and equity.
- More than 150 tribes from across the country will be represented as a part of the NABI Educational Youth Summit & Basketball Invitational. Members of NABI teams will participate in a co-ed scrimmage at halftime.
Tickets for Thursday’s Native American Night matchup versus the Chicago Sky are still available at PhoenixMercury.com/single.