Sasha Vujacic and the Lakers have fans in every corner of the world, and Asia is no exception. One of these faraway but devoted followers is Jason Chen. The 24-year old Taipei resident grew up loving the Lakers (he was actually born in L.A.) and has become an ardent supporter of The Machine. Jason is so dedicated to purple and gold that he considers it his mission to “convert Laker haters to Laker fans for a living.”

How long have you been a fan?

Although I didn’t get to go through the Magic vs. Bird years, I’ve been following the Lakers since we played in the Forum, with Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones and a young Kobe Bryant. I still remember the glory days during our three-peat with Kobe and Shaq. Then sticking through the tough times after falling to Detroit in the ’04 Finals. But our time has come again and it’s great to see Sasha be an integral part of it.

What was it about Sasha that first caught your attention?

I’m not gonna lie. I remember Sasha during his rookie year with his short haircut and skinny arms; he honestly looked like a Boy Scout running around the court. Obviously, he wasn’t getting much playtime behind Mamba, and a lot of fellow Laker fans were really hard on him. You always heard things about how he was the best shooter in practice, but couldn’t deliver during games. But he kept shooting, therefore he is the Machine.

What are some of your favorite things about Sasha?

He’s the MACHINE! The great thing about Sasha is his passion for winning. He’s a guy that always plays with 100 percent and has that rare competitiveness that you see in very few players, such as Kobe. During his first few years, he didn’t get many minutes, but he still played all-out defense every time he was on the court.

I love how he gets into the head of whoever he is guarding simply because he sticks to them like white on rice. Basketball is a mental game as much as it is physical, and despite the fact that Sasha isn’t the most athletic NBA guard, his pesky defense really takes a lot of players out of their rhythm.

Did I mention he’s the MACHINE? Machine programmed to shoot, Machine miss, Machine shoot again. Machine has no conscience.

Do you have a favorite Sasha moment or game?

There’s a behind the scenes video where Kobe challenges Sasha to make a 50-foot hook shot. He misses over and over with Kobe grilling him from the side. Watch it to see why persistence pays.

What is it like being a fan in Taiwan?

Taiwan has a pretty avid NBA fan base, but not everyone is a Laker fan. You’ve still got a lot of Laker haters walking around. In fact, just recently I’ve started to notice a lot of fans wearing Celtics jerseys. It’s really quite disturbing, and I’ll usually tell them to get their heads screwed on right.

Most casual fans don’t really know much about players besides the Kobes, Lebrons and Garnetts, so it’s important that I educate them about the role players. Whenever there is a Laker game on, I always tell the girls, “You see the guy with the flying hair? He’s our 型男射手 (Very Good Looking Shooter).” Now you know where Sasha gets his female fans.

Every once in a while I get the chance to meet a fellow Laker/Sasha fan, and it’s great when I do. You start to realize that Laker fans are usually the most passionate and know more about the game beyond the superstars.

Are you able to watch the games where you live?

Fortunately, a lot of Laker games are broadcasted here on TV – not all, but most of the big games. I think it’s because everyone wants to watch the Lakers play. For everything else, I can always watch online. The only downside is that the games are broadcasted live during the morning (due to time zones). When I was serving in the army, I didn’t have time to watch during the day, but there would be replays later at night, so I did everything possible to avoid finding out the scores. TV, radio, newspapers – I banned them all just to watch the game like it was live.

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

Keep shooting and it’ll go in.

Jason has a message for his fellow fans, too.

Hope all Sasha fans can learn some Chinese. 湖人第一！(Lakers No. 1!)