Collector says meeting Kobe was ‘time of our lives’
By Chris Olds | Beckett Basketball Editor
When Nick Gauder opened a pack of Panini America‘s 2010-11 Gold Standard basketball cards, he found something that could have made him very rich from a cash perspective.
It was a Golden Ticket good for a all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles and a chance to meet Lakers star Kobe Bryant.
But after meeting Kobe on Sunday — and an extended trip that allowed Gauder and his mother to meet relatives they hadn’t seen in decades — he was even more enriched.
“It was worth it, brother,” he said Wednesday, “because my mom and I had the time of our lives.”
While we’ll have more on Gauder’s trip in the next issue of Beckett Basketball soon — featuring Kobe on its cover — check out these Panini-produced videos. See Gauder meet Kobe above and see what else he left Los Angeles with below. (Need a full Kobe checklist or OPG? Click here.)
Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Basketball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
