My buddy Nick and I went arrived at the LA Convention Center around 7am and there were already about 100 people ahead of us waiting to get inside. I guess most Laker fans came out with the same intention as us to get as many autographs as possible. When we entered we noticed that there was one autograph stage and there wasn't a set schedule. First scheduled guests to appear were Marge Hearn and Jeannie Buss. I didn't want to get their autographs so I let people cut ahead of me. Jeannie was letting fans wear her Lakers Championship Ring and allowed people to take photos of it. I was tempted to go but I had to resist. Soon afterwards Kareem Abdul-Jabber showed up along with two Laker girls. As soon as the fans saw Kareem there was a mad rush to the front and a ton of people were cutting in line trying to get Kareem. When I met Kareem I asked how his health was since he was recovering from chronic myeloid leukemia. He said he was feeling better. I told him that we were all praying that he gets better and Kareem seemed to really appreciate that. Here is a pic of Kareem signing my Lakers Championship Basketball. He personalized everything which was fine since I don't plan on selling the signed basketball. Kareem's autograph was one of my holy grails and I was excited to get my basketball signed. I thanked Kareem for personalizing my basketball and for all the great Laker Championship memories.
After I got out of line I tried to hop back in. By then there were already about 500 people in line and the line wasn't moving. Next up was Jamaal Wilkes and Mychal Thompson. We stood in line but the line never moved so we got out of the line. I took a photo of them signing for other fans.
The entire event got out of control as fans would cut into the autograph line. Thus the line never moved and the Lakers staff had a tough time managing everything. You can tell it was the first year of the event since they had no control over the crowds. The entire day was a mess as people were just standing in line all day for each station. Eventually Lakers management got rid of the autograph station and changed it up to a Q and A session in the afternoon as well the the following day of Lakers Fan Jam. Thus I felt very fortunate enough to get at least Kareem to sign for me at this event. While leaving the LA Convention Center I noticed a really cool looking Lakers Van. I took a pic of it before I left.
If the Lakers have another Fan Jam in the future I will definitely pass on this event.
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