EVERY night before he goes to sleep, he would look at the two Kobe Bryant posters on the wall in his bedroom and wonder, 'When can I see him in person?'.

It will be a dream come true for Calvin Chiam when he gets to see his idol at the Singapore Indoor Stadium next Wednesday.

The 28-year-old teaching assistant queued up for more than 12 hours to get a pair of free tickets for the coaching clinic to be hosted by the LA Lakers superstar next Wednesday when he comes to Singapore for the second leg of the Nike-sponsored Kobe Asia Tour 2009.

His other stops are in Manila, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu.

Chiam and his friends were the first to form the queue outside Wisma Atria, where Nike Singapore's flagship store is located, at 9pm on Wednesday night.

When the store distributed the tickets at 11am yesterday morning, more than 1,000 fans had joined the queue.

All of the 1,000 pairs of tickets were snapped up by 1.30pm.

For their efforts, Chiam and his friends were among 200 early bird fans who received a pair of front row tickets each to catch Bryant in action.

'My two friends and I wanted to go shopping after our basketball practice,' Chiam told The New Paper.

'But it got boring after a while and we decided to camp outside Wisma Atria for the free tickets.

'Getting the chance to see Kobe Bryant in Singapore is really a dream come true for me.

'Not many people in Singapore can afford to fly to the United States to watch Kobe and I am really excited that Nike is bringing Kobe to Singapore to give fans like me this once-in-a-lifetime experience.'

Chiam and his friends were not the only early birds.

Excited

Student Desmond Sim, 25, and three other friends joined the queue at 10pm on Wednesday night.

'This is the first time that I'm getting to see an NBA star in action, and I'm really excited,' said Sim.

'Spending the night here queuing is a small price to pay for the experience I'll be enjoying.'

Nike was delighted with the overwhelming response.

'We, at Nike, are simply thrilled by the passion and enthusiasm demonstrated by our local youths this morning for Kobe Bryant's visit to Singapore,' said Glenn Heng, country marketing manager for Nike Singapore.

'Our aim in inviting him is to inspire youths to achieve their sports dreams and convey the Nike Just Do It spirit.

'We are equally excited by the positive response from our youths and hope that as a nation with an aspiring focus on elevating sports, we will extend Kobe the warmest welcome ever.'

Bryant's coaching clinic with 20 local players is scheduled to start at 8.15pm next Wednesday, which comes after an exhibition match between a Singapore Selection Team and an Asean Basketball League Selection Team.

For those who didn't manage to get the tickets at Wisma Atria yesterday, there are more than 2,000 free tickets to be given away at all Sistic outlets from today to Sunday. Each person is entitled to only one pair of tickets.

Meanwhile, there are still eight slots up for grabs for the coaching clinic.

The Basketball Association of Singapore has arranged a trial for youths aged between 16 and 20 years at its headquarters at 601 Aljunied Crescent at 2pm onSunday.

Limited to the first 500 participants, the trial will test players on their offensive, defensive, shooting and dribbling skills.

Nike will choose the players who best exemplify the 'Just Do It' spirit on court.