Sports Journo Leads Recovering Cancer Victim to ‘Jack Nicholson Jackpot’

Fabulous item today on Arcadia Patch by Larry Stewart, a veteran sports writer with over four decades of experience at the Herald-Examiner and LA Times.

He recounts how he was able to pull some strings at Staples Center to get primo tickets to Tuesday’s Los Angeles Lakers-Atlanta Hawks game for recovering 14-year-old cancer victim Samantha Naanou, her family and friends. Stewart also, via Jeanie Buss, engineered admittance at halftime to the hallowed Chairman’s Room and what turned out to be some golden photo opps:

First off, Samantha got a picture with Jack Nicholson and then, in order, Andy Garcia, Bill O’Reilly, Maria Shriver, and local broadcaster Bill Macdonald, who is also a cancer survivor.

Nicholson rarely poses for pictures, but after hearing about what Samantha had gone through, he gladly accommodated her. I told Garcia about the situation and he came and found us. O’Reilly and Shriver both readily agreed to pose with Samantha.

Thanks to two months of treatment at Cedars-Sinai, Naanou is cancer free as of today, two clicks after hanging with Jack. Now that’s what we call a great week.