It’s 2006, I’m interning at KABC Los Angeles in the sports department. One amazing perk that made everything worthwhile was going to sports games, watching them, and then going to get postgame sound. That year I went to several Laker, Clipper, Dodger, and Angels games. Most of the time, it would just be me, the intern, and a photographer. Such a treat for an LA guy. Free games and then hanging with players, amazing. No wonder I wanted to work in news.
So one night in February, I’m at the Staples Center to watch the Lakers play against the Memphis Grizzles. I watch the entire game from the press box and before it ends, I head to the Lakers’ locker room. I’m fanboying so hard. I get to go inside the Laker locker room. Now it might sound gross and sweaty, but as a Laker fan all my life, this was bigger than the Sistine Chapel for me. The locker room is not like the high school locker room, this is an NBA team. So it’s state of the art, air condition works, and actually smells nice.
While waiting in the locker room, I stare at the names above each locker. Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Luke Walton, and finally my eyes fall on Kobe’s locker. The Lakers finally start sputtering out of the showers. We interview a few Lakers about the game and wait for the star. Of course, Kobe is last to exit the showers. He’s sharply dressed in a suit and cuts through the crowd to his locker. I’m surrounded by reporters, photographers, and sports journalists. I’m short 5’4 and I get right in the front with the KABC cameraman behind me. I have the microphone in my hand. I feel the crowd of behind me push forward. I’m excited to meet Kobe and get close.
Kobe looks at me directly and says “why don’t you ask the first question?”. I’m shook, I totally forget that I was supposed to ask something. A random question about the playoffs flashes through my head, and I stumble through it. Kobe answers, I lift up the mic and make sure it can hear him. Kobe gets though everyone’s questions. My arm hurts from keeping up the microphone.
After the scrum, the photographer tells me he’s heading back to the live truck to send back the interviews we shot to the station. The sports department will find a good sound bite and use it later in the 11 pm newscast. I tell him, give me a second, I want to soak in the experience just a little more. I stand around the locker room trying to breathe it all in. It’s nearly completely empty.
I’m lost in the moment when I look around and see that Kobe is still at his locker. He’s just standing there. I walk over there, nervous. I tell him “Thanks for letting me ask a question. Kobe replies “No problem, I could tell it was getting tight in there. I wanted to box them out for you”. Even after the game, Kobe is still thinking about basketball. It never ended for him.
I have nothing else to say so I say the first thing that comes to mind …I ask Kobe for a hug. He looks at me weird, like who the hell is this guy. And with a shrug, he opens his arms and waves me in. I come up to his chest and at that time, it was probably the greatest moment of my life. I’ll never forget how nice Kobe was a weird sports intern. Kobe could have definitely just said no but he said yes and created a memory for me that’ll last forever.
Anthony R. Leong 