Shelly Niimi is a native Southern Californian who grew up playing basketball and now enjoys going to basketball gamesand watching games in her spare time. Since she lives in Los Angeles, she has had the opportunity to not only watch Sasha play basketball, but she was also able to meet Sasha in person and attend many of his events including the AT&T signings and the Dinner With Sasha at theSt. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church.

How long have you been a fan?
I have been a fan of Sasha ever since he became a Los Angeles Laker and became known as The Machine. Now, although I miss him here in Los Angeles, I am continuing to support Sasha as he startson his new journey with his new team, the New Jersey Nets.

What was it about Sasha that caught your attention?
Sasha is a total inspiration for me in many ways. He has an energy and passion that one doesn’t see in most NBA players or in most people for that matter. I feel that a person knows when Sasha Vujacic is on the court because his fiery energy immediately ignites, motivatingall of his teammates and the audience as well. Perhaps there are players that can show this type of energy when they are on offense, but Sasha also has the ability to translate thisenergy when he is on defense. I really enjoy watching his signature “Pesky D”.

What are some of your favorite things about Sasha?
Even though he is a two-time NBA champion, he remains very kind and generous. I noticed that even though he has an extremely busy schedule, he always seems to make time for charity work especially with children. When he makes these kinds of public appearances he is always sure to say thank you to you and show his appreciation. I feel that it is obvious thathe has a generous heart. The New Jersey fans are lucky they will be able to meet him now.

Anything else about your Sasha fandom that you would like to share?
Hisstyle is an inspiration to me, creatively.He has his own unique flair that sparks all kinds of visual imagery in my mind in the form of many things, from graphic images to clothes. For a while, I felt that my creative side was kind of dormant, but ever since I became a fan of Sasha, my creative energy became alive again. Since then I have been inspired to design many Sasha T-shirts, posters, graphic images and I also made a video.

If you had the chance to say something to Sasha, what would you say?
Iwould tell him that as he embarks on a new branch of his career, I support him in taking hold of all of his past experiences as one who has achieved success as a champion to shape the destinationof his even bigger new goals.Also, I want to be sure he knows that through his own various web sites, the Vujachicks.com and the Vujachicks Facebook page, I have had the opportunity to meet many of his cool fans from the US to Italy and I want to let him know that his fans are behind him always.