Los Angeles Times - 06.04.2020

B6 MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020 LATIMES.COM

SPORTS

Lakers center JaVale Mc-
Gee has done the autograph
thingcountless times.
Fans line up at a collect-
ibles shop or at a convention
booth with jerseys, basket-
balls — whatever — all to get
a few seconds from an NBA
player and his autograph.
For McGee, it was a grind.
The same pleasantries, the
same Sharpie marker, the
same autograph, over and
over.
Like a lot of NBA players,
though, he’s found an alter-
nativeway to connect with
his fans — to help wish your
girl a Happy Valentine’s Day,
to shame you for a fantasy
draft performance, to em-
barrass you for jumping on
bandwagons and to share a
small slice of his day thanks
to cellphone video and Cam-
eo, a Chicago-based com-
pany that books and delivers
personalized messages.
“Sometimes, you’d go to
signings and people would
want stuff personalized and
you’d have to say ‘No.’ If we
personalized every one — we
have 3,000 people waiting,”
McGee said earlier this year
before social distancing and
self-isolation because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. “With
Cameo, it’s personalized.”
The company, which has

its roots in sports and in-

cludes athlete investors

such as Brooklyn Nets All-

Star guard Kyrie Irving, is

trying to modernize the au-

tograph in the most mil-

lenial way possible.

Fans can book their fa-

vorite athletes or celebrities,

sending them an outline of

the message they want re-

corded. The talent sets their

own fee and keeps 75%. Cam-

eo gets the other 25%.

“Literally, the idea when

we founded the business was

that the selfie was the new

autograph,” Cameo co-

founder Steven Galanis said

in a phone interview. “Cam-

eo was a way to have that ex-

perience, that selfie experi-

ence, without actually meet-

ing the person in real life.”

If you really want a mes-

sage from Caitlyn Jenner,

you can get that done — at

$2,500 she’s the most expen-

sive person on the site. Ka-

reem Abdul-Jabbar and

Dennis Rodman? Yup,

they’re available. Your favor-

ite reality stars? Singers

from the 1990s? Internet sen-

sations? Pro wrestlers? Ath-

letes? All there too.

Cameo is a marketplace

full of the people you’d walk

up to to ask for a selfie with if

you were lucky enough to

cross paths with Debbie

Gibson, Jose Canseco, Troy

Aikman, Snoop Dogg or

Stormy Daniels.

“It’s a great idea, a great

platform,” McGee said.

Former USC star Jordan

McLaughlin was 30 games

into his first NBA season

when it shut down, coming

back to California from the

Minnesota Timberwolves.

Without much else to do, he

has sat at home and stared

into his cellphone camera,

wishing fans happy birth-

days and sending words of

encouragement, 20 seconds

at a time for $30 a video.

Beats doing nothing.

“That’s pretty much what

it’s been,” McLaughlin said,

knowing teammates such as

Karl-Anthony Towns would

be way more in demand.

“With times how they are

now, it’s nice and convenient

for athletes and people with

a platform to make a little

cash and make somebody’s

day.”

Cameo is not alone in this

business. There are compet-

ing entities, including Real

Talk Live, a company where

you can have live conversa-

tions with celebrities when

you pay per minute.

The idea of personalized

content has raised a lot of

eyebrows around the league.

The site itself was born in the

minds of Duke basketball

fans, with former NBA veter-

an Lance Thomas being one

of the first five people to uti-

lize the platform.

More than 40 current

NBA players are available

for bookings through Cam-

eo. More have tried the serv-

ice and plan on returning.

And with players such as Ir-

ving and NBA champions

such as McGee, Pau Gasol

and Miami’s Udonis Haslem

on board, more are expected

to join.

Between active players in

the NBA, WNBA, G League

and foreign leagues, plus re-

tired players, Cameo has

more than 400 basketball

players on its roster. And

with the league shut down,

even more have reached out

to try to get more informa-

tion about the service.

“By next season, it’ll be

more surprising if someone

is not on than if they are,”

Galanis said.

Boston Celtics center

Enes Kanter is one of Cam-

eo’s most prolific basketball

players — recording more

than 500 messages for fans.

“I lost count,” Kanter said

earlier this year. “Every three

days, I was probably getting

17 or 18 requests. I do them

right before I go to sleep,

each takes about 30 seconds

— mostly it’s a birthday

shoutout. ‘What’s up Jack,

it’s Enes Kanter from the

Boston Celtics. Just wanted

to say happy birthday and

wish you the best. I hope you

have the best year and best

birthday ever. I hope to see

you and your family at one of

my games.’ ”

Thatcosts someone $50?

“There you go,” he said.

There’s money to be

made in this, even if your

general NBA player doesn’t

need it.

“It’s salary. It’s a grind. I

did it,” McGee joked. “It’s my

money and goes right into

the bank account.”

According to Cameo,

Abdul-Jabbar is the most

popular former player. He

charges $500 per video, and,

according to Galanis, fulfills

between 15 and 20 per week.

Rodman, at $300, was one of

the first superstars to sign

on.

Soon-to-be-retired Vince

Carter ($300) does about 15

each week.

Orlando’s Aaron Gordon,

who just joined the platform

in the wake of the league’s

suspension, is doing close to

20 videos a week and is now

charging $130 after raising

his price.

“You get to send videos to

fans, friends or families —

people who just wanted a

message. Maybe it’s to en-

courage them or something

to make them feel better

about their day. And that’s

something I love to do. I like

making people feel good,”

said Celtics rookie Grant

Williams, who charges $60.

“... I wanted to be avail-

able but I also wanted it to be

something where I didn’t get

a request every five seconds

because it gets less genuine

the more you do it. I didn’t

want to do it for like $10 be-

cause then you’re getting

hundreds of requests.”

Especially in the throngs

of the COVID-19 pandemic,

Galanis wants his wealthiest

talent to remember why, ide-

ally, they got involved with

this platform. Gasol, for in-

stance, donates all of the

money he makes from his

Cameo videos to his charita-

ble foundation.

“This isn’t about finding

additional revenue so

much,” he said. “It’s really

about connecting with your

fans. Don’t think about how

much your time is worth.

Think about how much your

fans can afford. That’s really

important.

“... Have empathy for

what’s going on in the world.

We feel as bad as anybody

that everything has been

canceled. But here’s an op-

portunity to engage with

your fans. There’s so much ...

going on right now — people

losing their jobs — how cool

is it to be able to sit on your

couch and make somebody’s

life [better]. That’s been the

message and it’s been very

well received.”

JaVALE McGEEof the Lakers will deliver birthday wishes and other greetings to fans through Cameo, one of the companies that offer such video messages for a fee.

Wally SkalijLos Angeles Times

A NEW CONNECT MESSAGE

NBA stars reach out to fans with the ‘new autograph’ — personalized cellphone videos

By Dan Woike

They’ve been stuck in-
side, leaving their Ladera
Ranch home only for peri-
odic trips to the physical
therapist. They check in with
coaches through computer
screens and study film via
screen sharing. They listen
to virtual lectures at the
kitchen table and follow vir-
tual workouts on Instagram.
Everything is changing
for college football in the
wake of the COVID-
pandemic, with spring
camps canceled, workouts
on hold and those involved
clinging to whatever nor-
malcy they can, as a sport
meant for wide-open space
adjusts to the closed con-
fines of self-isolation. But for
USC’s McClain brothers,
Abdul-Malik and Munir, this
new normal has actually re-
sulted in something good.
After three weeks of
prayer and brother-versus-
brother push-up competi-
tions, they say the isolation
is making an already close
family even tighter.
“We’re getting better as a
family through all of this,
even though we’ve been with
each other forever,” Munir
McClain said. “We’re having
fun through this. We’re just
trying to get through, to en-
joy what we can.”
Growing up, the brothers

spent most of their time to-

gether. They shared a bed-

room,played on every sports

team together, even shared

many of the same friends.

Munir committed to USC

four weeks after Malik

signed in December 2018,

and the following fall, they

lived together on campus.

Before both went down with

injuries in a game against Ar-

izona last October, it seemed

Munir, a freshman receiver,

and Malik, a redshirt fresh-

man edge rusher, might even

share a breakout final month

of the season.

But since their isolation

began, it hasn’t been only

Malik and Munir sharing

space at the kitchen table.

By the time the brothers rise

around 9 a.m., younger

brother Mansur and younger

sister Alaa’ Khadijah are al-

ready in theirvirtual classes,

while their mother, Shan,

conducts conference calls in

the next room.

“We’ve found a routine,”

Shan said. “We’re making it

work as best we can.”

Routine is a bedrock of

the big-time college football

experience, with a player’s

time meticulously meted

out, day by day, hour by hour.

With lifts and treatments

and training tables and posi-

tion-by-position meetings

planned out beyond the time

spent on the field, the rou-

tine often leaves little time

for much else.

But that schedule has

quickly shifted in the new

conditions. Players now have

an abundance of free time,

leaving coaches across the

nation scrambling to keep

them engaged. At Alabama,

that meant handing out Ap-

ple watches this past week to

monitor how players per-

form during workouts the

NCAA purposefully required

to be pretaped. It doesn’t fig-

ure to be long before other

programs find their own

ways to take advantage of

similar loopholes.

At USC, coaches have

tried to stay in constant con-

tact. Position groups contin-

ue to meet routinely over

Zoom. Strength and condi-

tioning coach Aaron Aus-

mus created a private Insta-

gram feed to post workout

plans. Academic advisors

check in on a daily basis.

“They’ve done a pretty

good job with the athletes,”

Shan said. “I hear Munir and

Malik online speaking with

their advisors and the

coaches every day. They’re

pretty disciplined in that

area, so that’s a great thing.”

The brothers have settled

into their virtual classes and

their virtual workouts, using

anearby park when they

need more room to roam.

Three times a week, they

make the trip to the physical

therapist, where Malik

strengthens his right shoul-

der, which required off-

season surgery, and Munir

rehabilitates his left knee,

which was operated on for a

torn anterior cruciate liga-

ment.

But players are strug-

gling to accept certain parts

of this new normal. For

USC, it has made teaching

the Trojans’ new defensive

scheme especially difficult.

“It’s harder now,” Malik

said.“We learn better when

we run through it, but

we’re still getting concepts

through Zoom.”

When they’re not in virtu-

al meetings or virtual

classes, the McClains are

more than likely playing vir-

tual football. That much, at

least, has remained the

same. Though, with all three

brothers together, a new

Madden champion has

emerged. “Mansur, he’s actu-

ally the best,” Malik ac-

knowledged.

Every chance they get,

the brothers have tried to

keep competing, in hopes of

keeping cabin fever at bay.

They challenge each other to

push-up contests, the last of

which was won by Munir.

But as her sons settle into

isolation, Shan can’t help

but wonder whether they

grasp the weight of their nor-

mal.

“They’re young,” she said.

“I don’t think they really,

fully understand what’s go-

ing on. It’s affecting every-

one. It doesn’t discriminate.

Anyone can get this virus.”

THE CHECK-IN

Brothers enjoy enhanced family time amid shutdown

By Ryan Kartje

USC FRESHMANMunir McClain (13) is staying positive during the pandemic.

“We’re having fun through this. We’re just trying to get through ...” he says.

Shotgun SpratlingFor The Times