11 years after Sasha Vujacic was born in Slovenia, his fan Tanner Knuckles cried his way out of his mother’s womb somewhere in the United States. Several years later, not only would Tanner discover that he celebrates his birth on the same day as Sasha, but he would also grow up loving basketball and even coincidentally pick the same jersey number.

14-year old Tanner has been a fan for about two years when he realized he shared the same basketball number as The Machine. Sasha currently dons jersey number 18 with the LA Lakers and Tanner wore number 18 when he was still in junior high. They both actually had their eyes set on a different (and yet still the same) number, but ended up settling for number 18 instead. Sasha says, “In Europe, I was number 8, but Kobe had that number when I came to the Lakers. Number 18 also has meaning for me. A lot of things happened leading to that number being important in my life.” Tanner has a different (but almost the same) story to tell: “I had number 18 in junior high and the reason is that I actually like number 8, but that was not available, so I put a number 1 in front of it and go 18.”

An avid basketball player himself, watching Sasha has helped Tanner improve his own game. “Sasha influences me by showing me new moves to try and to always keep going and hustle.” Tanner’s attention was first captured by Sasha Vujacic when he helped the LA Lakers make it to the NBA Finals against Boston. This Atascadero, California resident likes it how Sasha can “go into a game during the fourth quarter and nail those needed threes.”

And if Sasha is famous for being a gym rat, his defense, and his three-point shooting skills, Tanner’s friends from Atascadero High know him for being a hard worker, too, and being good at mid-range.

Also a very optimistic person, one of Tanner’s favorite things about Sasha is “how he always has a smile on his face.” So while the naysayers are quick to point out Sasha’s dwindling minutes, Tanner tells Sasha, “NEVER SAY NEVER!”