Lakers Fan Seemed to Suffer an Unfortunate Injury While Attempting $55,000 Half-Court Shot

This didn’t go as he had hoped.
Lakers Fan Seemed to Suffer an Unfortunate Injury While Attempting $55,000 Half-Court Shot
Lakers Fan Seemed to Suffer an Unfortunate Injury While Attempting $55,000 Half-Court Shot /

Every fan dreams of being the one to make a half-court shot at a NBA game. But that dream quickly turned into nightmare for one Lakers fan, who appeared to injure his lower leg on an ill-fated attempt at glory during Sunday night’s matchup between the Lakers and Rockets.

The fan was shooting as part of a promotion that could send him home with $55,000. It wasn’t a bad attempt, missing just to the left of the rim. But as he attempted to stop his momentum from the run-up, he fell to the ground and immediately grabbed at his lower leg. He then struggled to get up, missing out on the rest of the contest, which also involved a three-point shot.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James dribbles past Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks during the second quarter at Crypto.com Arena.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James dribbles past Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks during the second quarter at Crypto.com Arena / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Check out this poor guy: 

Initially, some people thought the fan was faking an injury to excuse missing the shot, but clearly, he was in some pain. So instead of going home as a viral hero and $55,000 richer, he instead became the butt of plenty of jokes online.

Ouch.

In all seriousness, all the best to the injured fan. Hopefully his injury is nothing serious and his 15 seconds of fame can be laughed about for a long time. 


Published
Kevin Sweeney
KEVIN SWEENEY

Kevin Sweeney is a staff writer at Sports Illustrated covering college basketball and the NBA draft. He joined the SI staff in July 2021 and also serves host and analyst for The Field of 68. Sweeney is a Naismith Trophy voter and ia member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.