Chris Paul CP3 Day LA Fire Academy 10-21-12

I got a tip from my friend James that Jordan Brand was celebrating CP3 Day at the LA Fire Academy. This event promoted Chris Paul's new signature shoe the CP3 VI's and also included a celebrity basketball game.

Until the night before the event we had no clue who was going to show up to the event until I found a press release online. I had to do some last minute preparation so luckily I was able to develop some photos of Willie McGinest, Jalen Rose, The Game, and Common. We also weren't 100% sure if Chris Paul would show up. It's been a goal of mine for awhile to get Chris' autograph on his CP3 V All Star Edition shoes.

James, Benson and I arrived at the CP3 Day Event at around 2:30 a little bit after the event started.

They handed out meal tickets for either Tommy Burgers or Wahoo Tacos but the lines were extremely long since it was free food. Footlocker also had a table set up and if you showed them your VIP card they gave you a gift bag which contained a Jordan Brand water bottle, Jordan CP3 VI Wristband and a redemption card for an additional prize at any participating HOH Footlocker store. I love free swag so I picked up a gift bag.

They also handed out raffle tickets to win additional prizes and they also allowed fans to try on the new CP3 VI shoes and run through an obstacle course. We were interested in getting autographs so we scoped out the venue and figured out where the players were being dropped off.  Surprisingly the usual graphers were not there since most of the crowd comprised of inner city kids being bussed in from different school districts.

The first player to sign for me was Jalen Rose who signed my Fab 5 photo for me.

Chris Paul ended up walking in as well but security blocked us from getting his autograph pregame.

The line was already long to get into the game. Luckily James got us VIP wristbands so we were able to skip the line and get into the game.

The VIP band saved our day as we were given access to the player VIP locker area and we were able to roam anywhere on the court. Thanks for the hookup James.

I decided to take some pictures of the game from the 2nd floor VIP area and behind the basket as well. It was nice to have all of this access.

At halftime they interviewed Chris Paul.

Jalen inbounds the ball to Common.

In the second half Chris Paul decided to participate in the game. Here he is being defended by Willie McGinest.

The game went into overtime and Chris Paul ended up making the game winning three to seal the victory for the white team. Here are some post game pictures below.

I have to thank The Game for this one. As soon as he was done posing for photos with Chris and his kids, The Game asked Chris Paul to sign two basketballs for each of his sons. I was at the right place at the right time. As soon as he signed the basketballs, Chris signed both pairs of my shoes and signed one more autograph for another fan. Chris ran with a black sharpie but I was still happy to finally get his autograph.

Afterwards I went back to the player locker room to chill with the players. They were with their family and friends. Common signed a photo for me and was nice enough to take a photo with me after finishing up an interview with Nicekicks.

The Game was chilling with his family and he also signed a photo for me as well.

When I arrived home I decided to try out my new case I picked up from Michaels. I needed another football case but I decided to try the display with the newly signed CP3 shoe, my Manny Pacquiao signed glove and my MJD signed football. The case was originally intended for a football.

The only downside is that it can only fit one shoe and one glove. What do you guys think? Should I go with the shoe, glove or football?