Sitting Courtside. With Kobe.

Like Fansmanship’s founders, Sabrina Haggie is from Cayucos, CA. She got the invitation of a lifetime last week and this is her account of what she did. Her interests include health and fitness and she’ll soon write a regular column on that subject that will appear on this site.

By Sabrina Haggie

It was like any other Friday afternoon until my best friend, Colin, (who lives in southern California) sent me a text message saying, “Wish you lived closer, I have tickets to the Lakers game tonight.” I get off work early on Fridays though, and I texted back. I was going to make it to this one. After scrambling to throw things together, I began the three-plus hour drive down to Los Angeles. I was so excited to be going to my first NBA game that even the LA traffic on a Friday at 5:00 couldn’t dampen my mood.

When your friend asks you to to go to a Lakers game, this isn’t exactly what you expect. By Sabrina Haggie

Screeching to a halt in my friend’s driveway at 6:45, there was only enough time to grab my purse and jump from my car into my friend’s and we were off. Colin saved the best news for the car ride, telling me that we were not only going to a Laker game but that we would be sitting courtside!

Court-side doesn’t mean just a few rows back from the court. In this case, it meant literally sitting with our feet on the court, at the edge of the Lakers bench! When we arrived at the Staples Center, we were escorted to a back entrance where we used our parking pass for VIP only. We had the car valeted and it was parked among the Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bentleys. Waiting in line to get into the Staples Center was the first time I held the ticket that said Court Seat, listing the cost at $2,750.  In pure shock and excitement, I just looked around and absorbed everything. Once inside, we walked downstairs instead of following the crowd upstairs.  Weaving through a maze of corridors, riddled with security guards to check our ticket at every turn, we made our way to the court.

When Kobe told center Robert Sacre what to do, apparently Sacre listened. By Sabrina Haggie

The second I walked into the powerful lights of the Staples Center, I was awestruck.  The thrill of walking in front of everyone and sitting at the end of the Laker bench was indescribable. Once I sat down, I was looking everywhere, at the players on the court within touching distance, at the various celebrities strewn in with the crowd and finally looked down the Laker bench only to see Kobe Bryant sitting three seats away from me.  I literally hit Colin on the arm and said “Holy —(curse word), Kobe Bryant!”  Feeling a little embarrassed for my brassiness, I sat back in my extremely padded chair and started taking pictures. A lot of pictures. And video. I probably spent more time capturing the moment then taking a moment to enjoy it.

The game was wonderful — watching Kobe give advice from the bench is something you don’t see on TV. I witnessed him giving some sort of signal to center Robert Sacre. The next thing I know, Sacre scores at the other end of the court. Later, Kobe was giving Wesley Johnson tips which he then used to beat the defensive coverage and have an incredible game. The game ended when Jodie Meeks passed to Kendall Marshall for a final layup at the buzzer. The Lakers won 110-99, beating the Utah Jazz. The best part of the entire thing was Kobe Bryant coming up to us, shaking our hands and saying, “thanks for coming guys,” then I high fived the entire Laker team, including the coaches. True story.

Best. Night. Ever.