Jackson Lale never expected his trip to Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, MI to turn into a dream experience with his favourite NBA player Norman Powell.
The 22 year old has what is widely considered the largest collection of Norman Powell sports cards in the world and has eight different jerseys from Powell’s four NBA teams as well as his NCAA jersey from UCLA.
Prior to the contest against the Detroit Pistons on Jan. 1, Lale went down courtside in the stands hoping to grab an autograph from the Miami Heat shooting guard.
He and his dad tracked down the Heat social media team nearby and explained his fandom.
Before he knew it, he had a five-minute meeting with Powell courtside.
Lale put on all eight of his jerseys and unveiled them one by one to the former Toronto Raptor.
He was even interviewed by the Heat and the post on their Instagram account went viral.
The video was picked up by the NBA official account with 90 million followers on Instagram, Bleacher Report, and the NBA on ESPN, among others.
It has been viewed millions of times across Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok.
Lale got all his jerseys signed and during the meeting with Powell he offered his game-worn jersey to him after the game.
Powell scored 36 points in the Heat’s win over the Pistons and after the game they met up where Lale received his jersey.
It was a whirlwind experience capped by Powell following Lale on his Norman Powell dedicated Instagram account.
Clarification
Jackson Lale is the son of CTV News London reporter Brent Lale
