The legacy of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan is being carried forward by a new generation of young, brash NBA superstars... and no member of this elite group is making greater impact than Kobe Bryant. In 1996, Kobe Bryant became the youngest player ever to appear in a NBA game, but quickly became known for more than his youth. The all-star guard has added spectacular dunks and dizzying ball movements to the many weapons of his LA Lakers teammates, helping create a basketball dynasty for the turn of the 21st century. 1999 was the year the Lakers (and Kobe) began their dynasty and it also happened to be the year that the Los Angeles Lakers came to our town. This was quite exciting news because the Lakers and Kobe are my favorites. Our state doesn't have any professional sports teams, so having a pre-game come to town was quite a treat.

       The tickets for this event were snatched up fast and as a result we couldn't attend, but that wouldn't stop us from trying to hunt for some 'graphs. Sterling, friend JR, and I were ready for whatever the night would bring and that's a good thing because from the very beginning things weren't going our way. When we arrived at the venue my car broke down in the parking lot and certainly wasn't a great way to start the evening.

        Luckily my Mom was able to come down and bail us out of this mess. After we arranged for my car to be towed away, we waited for the Lakers to go to their bus. The crowd let out and tons of people had the same idea because they flooded the fence and backstage area. When the players came out they didn't sign for anybody and just waved and got in their tour buses. It was cool seeing all of these talented players and one notable was Scottie Pippin (who was playing with the Portland Trailblazers). Instead of giving up the fight we got back in the car and devised a plan.

       Our master plan was to follow the Lakers tour bus to (hopefully) a hotel where we could try meet some of the players. It was up to my Mom if she was willing to take us because she had work, but she is so nice and signed off on the plan. When the tour buses took off we predicted where they were heading and caught up with them on the freeway. As we were following them we noticed that we weren't the only ones with this idea because we saw a line of cars hunting down the bus as well.

       We hoped that they weren't leaving town, but instead taking us to a hotel. Fortunately the bus got off on the freeway and we immediately knew which hotel they were heading to. The tour bus turned into the hotel and the cars in front of us suddenly stopped in the middle of the road and the drivers and passengers jumped out, leaving their cars in the middle of the road. Seeing this take place we exited the car while my Mom looked for a parking spot.

       All of the fans reached the bus doors in the nick of time and we gathered patiently waiting for the player's exit. The doors opened and the Lakers started heading out. The first of the Lakers to step off was Brian Shaw but he just kept walking because he knew everyone was waiting for the two big guns. The man of steel himself was the next off the bus and it was amazing to be so close to this giant.

       Although Shaq did sign some autographs it was nearly impossible to get it. Shaq didn't stop; he continued walking towards the elevator and only sporadically signed and didn't seem happy about it either. As a result most of the fans there didn't get his autograph including us. Derek Fisher and Tyron Lue made their way into the hotel next and were nice enough to stop and sign. Both of them signed for a very long time and almost every fan walked away with their autographs, very cool guys.

       The biggest surprise of the night was my favorite player, Kobe Bryant! Kobe seamed to appear out of nowhere and immediately was mobbed by fans. It appeared that he didn't want to let his fans down because he signed up a storm for the crowd, even though he was nursing a broken hand/wrist. For being a superstar Kobe sure didn't act like it. He was very calm with the intimidating crowd and took care of just about everybody who was there.

       We were shocked to see how much of a good signer he was, considering that his fellow superstar wasn't. Kobe signed his last autograph and headed to the elevator after everyone thanked him. The hotel manager then made everyone leave because there was just too much excitement. Everyone had their fun and went home with a success of some sort. Keep reading to find out more about the Lakers visit to our town.

       We knew that they would be leaving in the morning and decided to try for #34 again. Sterling dropped JR and I off at the hotel because he needed to go to school. JR and I weren't going to be missing anything special for class, so we called in sick (albeit a case of autograph fever). Both of us made ourselves comfortable within the hotel's walls and waited patiently for them to leave. Some players started to exit but we didn't want to get kicked out before we asked Shaq for an autograph. The elevator door opened up and this giant amongst men came walking out.

       Both of us waited until he got closer and then I asked very politely for an autograph. Shaq didn't look happy at all to see us there and especially wasn't happy with the question asked. Shaq bellowed, "Not now, another time" and brushed us off. Shaq then proceeded to put his headphones on and ignore any other request. He was really unfriendly both times that we saw him and has changed our feelings about him somewhat. We were the only fans in the hotel (there were two outside) and it hurt us that he flat out refused to sign.

       Some of the Lakers who did sign included: Ron Harper, A.C Green, Devean George, Derek Fisher, and Rick Fox (although he only signed for me and the two other two fans, while he left JR in the dust). More importantly my favorite player Kobe Bryant proved to be just as friendly on this morning. Kobe walked out of the hotel and immediately signed for the four of us there, so cool. All of us thanked #8 as he climbed the bus's steps.

       Shaq could really learn something from his younger star when it comes to signing autographs. We also saw Coach Phil Jackson, but when JR asked him for an autograph he just patted him on the shoulder and said, "I can't do that." It was weird because he then stood there with us for about 5 minutes doing absolutely nothing. All of us had some fun hunting for autographs on these two days and went home happy, but still were sad Shaq didn't sign.