Random Blog Post II

My Unlikely Hobby 

Everyone has hobbies and passions, but some are easier to suspect than others. When I was in seventh grade, I became obsessed with shoes: Air Jordans, Lebron’s, or Kobe’s, any pair of sneakers that had a Jumpman or Nike swoosh. As I got older, I ventured towards a new hobby: Collecting autographed and game-worn sneakers from some of the NBA’s biggest superstars. My love for NBA memorabilia began in tenth grade when a friend and I were driving through Beverly Hills. We passed by the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where we saw a crowd of people asking for autographs, as I looked closer I noticed Chris Anderson, then Mario Chalmers, and then Dwyane Wade. I couldn’t believe what I just saw, my favorite NBA team walking out of their hotel, signing autographs and taking photos with fans. That’s when it all began, my passion for NBA memorabilia.

After running into the Miami Heat, I immediately checked the Lakers and Clippers schedules, the next team in town would be the Washington Wizards. I quickly got to work and began using social media to find out where the team would be staying, and within a couple of hours I found out they were at the Montage Hotel. I got in my car and rushed to Footlocker to purchase a pair of John Wall’s sneakers, then got right back in and zoomed to the hotel. I was late, there were already at least a dozen people at the hotel, but it didn’t phase me. I waited and got my first autograph. Within months I became an autographing veteran, I learned all the ins and outs of finding information, getting player-exclusive sneakers, and getting signatures with no other fans in sight. My collection quickly blossomed from a single pair to over forty signed sneakers. Along the way, I met people different autographers and people working NBA locker rooms, my connections went deep, and I was able to get game-worn pairs directly off the NBA court. For the next three years of High School, I was an avid collector and along the way had amazing pairs of memorabilia in my collection.

My high point in collecting was when I had about fifty pairs of signed or game-worn shoes. When I tell people about some of the players that I have, they’re instantly shocked with reactions of “No way!”,“How’d you get that?”, or “That’s insane!” My most recent acquisition is a practice used pair of shoes from the King himself, Lebron James. As for context on the shoes, Lebron is contractually unable to sign autographs outside of his exclusive deal with Upper Deck Authentic and chances of getting a photo with him are smaller than winning the lottery, so when I was able to get this pair from my favorite athlete, I'd felt like I finally climbed Everest. Another one of my favorites is a Stephen Curry shoe, that I personally got signed by Stephen the season after the Warriors won their first championship. Similar to Lebron, James Harden is another player that doesn’t sign autographs very easily, so when he had a sneaker event here in Los Angeles, I rushed their within in an hours notice and got a pair signed by him. Lastly, having made connections with a member of the New Orleans Pelicans, I was able to obtain four pairs of Anthony Davis signed game-issued shoes. James, Curry, Harden, and Davis only count for a few pairs still in my collection, others include Demarcus Cousins, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Paul George, and more. Although I’ve considerably down-sized my memorabilia collection, my passion for autographed and game-used sneakers is great as ever.