DENVER — Austin Pawelka is a company man. Before that he was a company kid.
You might know him as Paws the Music, the Denver Nuggets' official DJ, but 20 years ago, he got his start announcing the starting lineups before games.
"I've grown up in that building, I feel like I could throw a blindfold on and walk around Ball Arena and know exactly where every nook and cranny is," Pawelka said.
Pawelka's dad, Shawn Martinez, worked in the game entertainment department when Paws was 8 years old. The team held a kid's night, and Pawelka got to introduce the players.
"When I was really young I was really shy, and I loved the 'Lion King,' so whenever somebody would want to introduce themselves to me, I would growl at them," Pawelka said. "So I guess that was like my nervous tick, and when I did the starting lineups, I ended up just growling the whole time and kind of growling the starting lineups, and it stuck, and I ended up doing that for probably around five years."
From there he worked a bunch of jobs for the Nuggets, from T-shirt tosser to ball boy and then time-out coordinator.
"Made sure everyone in the game presentation department knew what was going on on the floor and making sure our PA announcer gets all of our sponsorship reads," he said.
During the four seasons he worked that last job, Pawelka also grew his electronic music brand. Then, the Nuggets DJ at the time moved on, and Pawelka was a perfect fit for the job.
"It's pretty surreal. At times it kind of feels like, 'How did I get here?'" he said.
Pawelka has an open dialogue with the players about what kind of music they want in the pre-game playlist.
"As soon as they want something, it's on my immediate task list, the very top," he said.
After climbing the ladder from 8-year-old lineup to announcer to ball-boy to official DJ, Pawelka is on the precipice of watching his favorite team, and the only employer he's ever had, make basketball history.
He says being around this team for so long has definitely rubbed off on him.
"I think being around people striving to win championships or be the best athlete or player they can be has really set a precedent for myself to just take things one step at a time," he said. "I think that's just what makes me so grateful for my job and so grateful for the organization I work for and the people I get to work with."
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