Rossana Woo may be a fairly new Lakers fan, but she has all the passion of the team’s longtime supporters. She credits Number 18 for sparking her hardcore team spirit. While it was The Hair that first drew her in, the Cal State Northridge broadcast journalism student quickly grew to appreciate Sasha’s love for the game, his friendly demeanor, and her newfound camaraderie with other Lakers fans.

How long have you been a fan?

I started watching Lakers games on a consistent basis during the 2007-2008 playoffs. (Yes, I’m a newbie.) But if anybody had asked me before which team I was a fan of, I, being an LA native, would have quickly responded, “Lakers!” So I’ve only been a hardcore Lakers and Sasha fan for about a year.

What was it about Sasha that first caught your attention?

I think it was the hair! I remember watching the games, not really playing attention to any particular player, and noticing the dude in the number 18 jersey with the adorable long hair. He was always so into the game whether it was defending another player or shooting threes.

That’s when I starting noticing how I would get slightly excited about watching the games, especially when Sasha entered the game. When he did, I silently cheered on the inside. I swear I thought I was the only person in the entire world who thought this way about Sasha, but as it turns out, to my surprise, I wasn’t alone.

What are some of your favorite things about Sasha?

Other than his glorious head of hair, I love the way he just plays the game. You can just tell that he really loves playing basketball.

He also seems like a genuinely nice person. In all his interviews, he’s always responsive to the reporter, sometimes even joking around with them. And, being a reporter myself, it makes me happy to see somebody like Sasha who is patient with reporters and answers all their questions.

Do you have a favorite Sasha moment or game?

One of my (many) favorite Sasha moments was when Lamar Odom passed the ball to Sasha when Sasha was not even playing! I can’t stop laughing when I see that replayed, because I know Sasha would have totally tried to shoot that ball if he could. He is, of course, the Machine!

A lot of my other favorite Sasha moments are interviews he did, like when he sang along with Vic the Brick, when he criticized Lakers.com Mike Trudell’s fashion choices, and when DJ Mbenga predicted his future Hollywood career as the next American Gigolo.

But of course, I enjoy every moment he’s on the court playing, and I squeal whenever he makes a three!

You’re not just a Sasha fan but a huge Lakers fan now.

Whenever I meet new people now, I have to ask them if 1) they are a basketball fan, and, if yes, 2) are they are Lakers fan. It’s actually been a really great icebreaker because most of the people I meet are in fact Lakers fans and if they aren’t we get into huge debates about how the Lakers are the best team in the world.

If you could say one thing to Sasha, what would it be?

If I could say one thing to Sasha, it would probably be, “Thank you.” My dad has been a huge fan of the Lakers since before I was born, but he never forced me to watch the games or learn basketball. But thanks to my love for Sasha and the Lakers, my dad and I are closer than ever! We always watch the games when we can, we talk about the games when they’re not on, and we really want to go see a game at the Staples Center. The last time we went to a Lakers game together was when I was eight years old (when the Staples Center didn’t even exist!).