Fernando Martin Espina

Fernando Martín Espina (Madrid, March 25, 1962-Madrid, December 3, 1989) was a Spanish basketball player who played 9 seasons in the ACB and one in the NBA. being the first Spaniard to enter the American competition. At 2.05 meters tall, he played in the center position. He is the brother of Antonio Martín, also a basketball player.

He played for Estudiantes, Real Madrid, Portland Trail Blazers and the Spanish national team, with which he achieved various successes. He was the first European player from a non-college education to sign for an NBA team. As a player, he stood out for his great physical strength, not without technique and talent.

Member since March 1, 2007 of the FIBA Hall of Fame.

In October 2021 he was included as a player in the Spanish Basketball Hall of Fame in the class of 2019.

Sports career

Beginnings and entry into the elite

Fernando Martín began playing basketball when he was 15 years old but before that he had practiced other sports, such as judo or table tennis, and he even stood out in handball, a sport he practiced just before trying out basketball and swimming, discipline in which he was proclaimed champion of Castilla in his category up to 5 times. As a child he had suffered from heart rheumatism, curiously at the same time as his brother Antonio, and it was the doctor who treated them for this ailment who urged their mother to play sports in order to heal. His exceptional physique and his attitude Extremely competitive was what allowed her to stand out in each and every one of these specialties and what was going to allow her to finally make the leap to basketball.

In the middle of the 77/78 school year, Mariano Bartivas, who had been a player for Estudiantes and was the coach of the basketball team at the school where Fernando Martín was studying, convinced him to play with them. His impact was such that at the end of that course, Fernando would sign for the Estudiantes youth team for the following season, 78/79, in which he would also receive his first call-up with the youth national team, coached by Aíto at the time. García Reneses and with whom he was going to get the silver medal in the Eurobasket in the category in 1979. A year later, in the 79/80 season, he was going to debut with the first student team, led by Jesús Codina. He would only have to wait one more year, for the 80/81 season, to consolidate himself as a starter for Estudiantes, still at Junior age, who would get runner-up in the League against FC Barcelona, along with Vicente Gil, Alfonso del Corral, Charly López Rodríguez and the American Slab Jones.

During the course of that season, offers to sign for other clubs began to arrive, but it was Joventut de Badalona who first managed to reach an agreement with Estudiantes, even making a first payment for the transfer. Manel Comas, then coach of the green and black team, had seen him in the youth team and although Fernando Martín still showed great deficiencies, he also exhibited a great margin for improvement, which is why the coach of La Penya insisted on signing him. However, in the end, Real Madrid was going to be the team that got his signing, after paying 10 million pesetas to Estudiantes and tough negotiations between the three clubs involved and the player's father. Before joining the Madrid team On May 13, 1981, he made his debut with the National Team in a friendly match against France, played in Bordeaux and that Spain would win 106-109. Fernando Martín scored 2 points in that match.

His consecration at Real Madrid and NBA stage

His arrival at Real Madrid took place in the summer of 1981. In this club, and in the following five years, he lived the best years of his sports career, and came to establish himself as the best pivot in Spain and one of the best in Europe.

With the white team he won four ACB League titles (1982, 1984, 1985 and 1986), three Copa del Rey (1985, 1986 and 1989), two Cup Winners' Cups (1984 and 1989), one Korac Cup (1988) and a Club World Cup (1982). In 1985 he was runner-up in the European Cup.

His figure came to seduce NBA scouts. In 1985 he was the first Spanish player to be included in the draft. He was chosen by the New Jersey Nets in the second round of the Draft, in position 38. He traveled to the United States to play in the summer campus of this team and, upon completion, he was offered to sign a non-guaranteed contract. Martín rejected it, and preferred to continue another year in Spain. That would allow him to participate in the Mundobasket that would be held in Spain in 1986, and in which the Spanish team had great hopes. It is worth mentioning that, at that time, NBA players could not participate in competitions organized by FIBA.

His Portland T-shirt Trail Blazers, in the Hall of Fame.

In the summer of 1986, he took the big step and signed for the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA, becoming the first Spaniard and second European to enter the American competition.

His tenure with the Trail Blazers, however, was not as fortunate as he had hoped. He suffered several injuries that kept him, in total, for nearly two months away from the courts, and that prevented him from having the necessary continuity of play. A broken nose and knee arthroscopy were his worst adversaries. Despite everything, the man from Madrid accepted the American experience as good. He always said that he had gone to the NBA to learn.

He only played one season with the Trail Blazers (1986-87), in which he played 24 games for a total of 146 minutes, 22 points and 28 rebounds.

In 1987 he returned to Real Madrid. And among other things he did it because the white team offered him a contract that, at that time, represented a true record: 100 million pesetas per year.

His second Madrid spell was less fruitful. In Spanish basketball, FC Barcelona led by Epi, Solozábal and Audie Norris, the American with whom Martín had some epic duels. Martín had time to add a Copa del Rey (1989) and a European Cup Winners' Cup (1989) to his record with Real Madrid then led by the Yugoslavian Drazen Petrovic.

A few months later (as would happen three and a half years later to Petrovic himself), a tragic accident ended his life prematurely.

National team

Between 1981 and 1986, and in parallel to his successes at Real Madrid, he also actively collaborated with those of the Spanish basketball team.

He was called up for the first time by Antonio Díaz-Miguel in 1981. Between that year and 1986, when he went to the NBA, he played a total of 72 games with the national team, of which he was always one of the pillars.

He started the team that won the silver medal at the Eurobasket in Nantes'83, and the team that won the historic silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, along with players like Juan Antonio Corbalán, Juan Antonio San Epifanio, Solozábal or Fernando Romay.

Personal life

He was born in Madrid, into a family made up of Ricardo Martín Ajo (businessman in the delicatessen and construction sector who died in 2003), Carmen Espina Prada (housewife who died in 2016) and three other siblings: Ricardo, Pedro and Antonio (also a professional basketball player). He always lived in the family home located in one of the most luxurious residential neighborhoods in Madrid, Parque Conde de Orgaz. She spent her school years at the San José del Parque school run by the Marist Brothers, located a short distance from her house. Precisely in his school teams he began to stand out as a handball player first and basketball player later. He also became Castilla swimming champion.

His son Jan Martín played in the lower categories of Estudiantes and Real Madrid, making his debut in the ACB league with both teams. He was the first Spanish player to play in the Israel Winner league, becoming a revelation player.

Death

Fernando Martín died in Madrid on Sunday, December 3, 1989 at around 3:00 p.m. due to a traffic accident. He went to watch a Real Madrid match against CB Zaragoza that he was not going to be able to play due to his well-known back pain, which would not prevent him from being on the bench to support his teammates.

The accident occurred because his excessive speed caused him to lose control of his car, a Lancia Thema 8.32, as he merged from the Barcelona highway (N-II) onto the M-30 ring road heading north. It is a very pronounced downhill curve, where he lost control of the vehicle. After joining the M-30 and jumping its median, it invaded the lane in the opposite direction (south) and hit another vehicle, an Opel Kadett whose driver survived, although with serious injuries.

His death caused a real shock in Spanish and world basketball. Representatives of all the clubs and institutions attended his funeral, including several players, such as Epi and Audie Norris, his eternal rival at FC Barcelona.

This case is reminiscent of Dražen Petrović who also died almost four years later in similar circumstances.

Achievements and recognitions

Regional

• 4 Madrid Championships (Torneos CAM): 1984/85, 1985/86, 1987/88 and 1989/90.

National

• 4 ACB League: 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986.
• 3 Basket King Cup: 1985, 1986, 1989.
• 1 Spanish Super Cup (FEB-ACB): 1984/85.

Continentals

• 2 Review of Europe: 1984 and 1989.
• 1 Korac Cup: 1988.

World

• 1 FIBA World Cup: 1981.
• FIBA/NBA World Championship (Open-McDonald's): 1988.

Other trophies

• 3 International ACB Club Tournaments (European Super Cup): 1984/85, 1988/89, 1989/90.
• 3 International Christmas Tournaments (FIBA): 1981, 1982 and 1986.
• European Super Cup FIBA: 1989 (not contested for non-appearance of Jugoplastika).

Friendly trophies

• 3 Tournaments of Pollinica (Malaga): 1984/1985, 1985/1986, 1986/1987.
• 1 Gasca Memorial Trophy (San Sebastian): 1985/86.
• 1 Trophy 50 Anniversary Diario Sur (Sevilla): 1988.

National team

• With the Spanish selection it was 86 times international.
• Silver Medal in European Junior 1979
• Silver Medal in the OO JJs. Los Angeles 1984.
• Silver Medal at the Eurobasket of Nantes 1983.
• He played two World Championships (1982 and 1986).

Honours and distinctions

• His figure is recognized in the FIBA Hall of Fame.
• First Spanish and Second European to play in the NBA.
• The Real Madrid de Baloncesto withdrew dorsal n.o 10 in his honor.
• It belongs to the 50 Major Contributors of the FIBA Basketball.
• Silver Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit (2009, posthumous).
• Hall of Fame del Baloncesto Español (2019, posthumous title)

Homes

• The Real Madrid withdrew the number 10 of his t-shirt after his death, so no other player has ever seen him again on the team. He's the only retired dorsal in the history of the club.
• There is a basketball hall with its name in the city of Fuenlabrada.
• A municipal sports center in Madrid, in the neighborhood of Valdezarza, bears its name.

CBA Statistics

• CB Students

80/81 – 12.8 points, 5.4 rebounds (18 years)

• Real Madrid

81/82 – 13.4 points 4.6 rebounds – League

82/83 – 17.4 ptos, 5.2 rebounds.

83/84 – 21.5 ptos, 6.0 rebounds. – League, Recopa

84/85 – 19.5 ptos, 8.5 rebounds. – League, Cup

85/86 – 23.3 ptos, 6.9 rebounds – League, Cup

87/88 – 22.0 points, 7.0 rebounds – Korac

88/89 – 18.7 points, 8.8 rebounds – Cup, Recopa

89/90 – 18.3 points 7.2 rebounds. (27 years)

Statistics of his NBA career

Regular season

References in popular culture

• The Spanish video game company Dinamic Software launched in 1987 a title based on the player's figure: Fernando Martín Basket Master.
• In the 2009 All-Star Weekend matt contest held in Phoenix, Rudy Fernandez, a Blazer player, wore Martin's t-shirt as a tribute.
• The Sevillian rapper ToteKing, in his song "NBA", asks for "a minute of silence" for Dražen Petrović and "another for Fernando Martin", of which he says he is "immortal" in his role, "until the end".
• The also rapper Nach, on the theme "My own heaven", in which he talks about what would be his utopian paradise, rapes: "...I would throw a basket against Dražen Petrović and Fernando Martín".

Filmography

• Documentary TVE (3-12-2014), «Conexion Vintage - Fernando Martín» at RTVE.es
• Documentary Canal+ (14-10-2009), «Informe Robinson - De Martín a Gasol» in Plus.es (broken link)