Melissa Sanchez is a 24-year-old artist and graphic designer from Gardena, California. I have had the pleasure of meeting her at Fiesta Lakers when she caught my attention wearing a Sasha #18 t-shirt.

She has met Sasha several times and appreciates his sincerity when meeting with fans like herself. Aside from Sasha’s determination on the court, Melissa also admires Sasha’s philanthropic efforts off the court.

How long have you been a fan?

I have been a Laker fan since a very young age, but I have been a Sasha fan for about four years now.

What was it about Sasha that first caught your attention?

I’d be lying if I didn’t say his looks. But seriously, it was his determination. The fact that even when missing 4-5 three-point attempts in a row and most other players would give up or not want to chance it, Sasha keeps going. He doesn’t give up on himself even when a lot of others do, and that’s something I can relate to.

What are some of your favorite things about Sasha?

Seeing some of his reactions to calls made in a game. It’s always entertaining. I also really enjoy hearing about his involvement in the community. Being from the South Bay myself and hearing that Sasha works with schools like Halldale (where my sister used to go) or makes appearances in Carson or Gardena or any of our cities. A lot of people can tell you the South Bay is a tight-knit community and while we do have a lot of famous people living in our area, not many of them actually interact with the locals. It’s always exciting to hear one of my friends saying they ran into Sasha at the mall or he came into their work and was such a cool guy. It just makes me like him that much more because it’s like here is this person we see all the time on TV who could feel like they’re entitled to special treatment because of their status, yet Sasha’s such a down-to-earth regular guy.

Do you have a favorite Sasha moment or game?

Yes, definitely. I believe it was Game 5 of the Lakers-Boston series a few years back. Sasha scored his season high during that game . What made it more special to me was that I was actually in attendance for that game. The section where I was sitting, there were nothing but men. Being the only girl and nonetheless a Sasha fan, I was easily the target of being made fun of. So of course when Sasha had a spectacular performance during that game and my whole section was in disbelief, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit smug!

How has Sasha inspired you?

I pretty much covered this when I talked about Sasha’s involvement with the community, but definitely his attitude towards life and basketball in general has inspired me. It makes me smile to see someone with such ambition for greatness in whatever life may bring their way.

Have you met Sasha? If so, what did you think of the experience?

I have been lucky enough to meet Sasha on several occasions and every time he exceeds my expectations. Never did I expect him to be as sincere as he is. It’s nice to see someone who is grateful to their fans and takes the time out of such a chaotic schedule to say hi or pose for a picture.

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

I always get made fun of for this. I have met Sasha quite a few times but have never been able to utter more than a few words to him! I get so nervous. I would love to have an actual conversation with him one day about so many things – sports, music, living in the South Bay, food – but that probably won’t happen unless there weren’t as many people around. I think it’s more so the crowd of people around that makes me nervous – being able to hear our whole conversation – more than actually Sasha himself. And if I ever do get the chance to have such a conversation with Sasha, I would love to show him some of my artwork!

Anything else about your fandom that you would like to share?

There’s really nothing out of the ordinary here. I wear his jersey every time a game is on and am excited when he gets solid minutes. Other than that I did get a few of my friends into basketball and more specifically, Sasha. I’m really involved in the music scene and a lot of my friends aren’t necessarily into sports so they find it a complete shock when they learn I’m a diehard Laker fan! Since learning this, I actually got a couple of them to watch some games or even start to become Laker and Sasha fan’s themselves.