Jerald Acoba hit the biggest basketball shot of his life, and he’s ninety-five thousand dollars richer because of it.
The 30-year-old Tulare, California-native, who is of Filipino descent, was in attendance as the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed the visiting Memphis Grizzlies at the Staples Center on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).
In between the third and fourth quarters, the exuberant Laker fan casually drained a 94-feet long half court shot, as part of the Aria Big Shot Jackpot contest—netting him $95,000 (P4.7 million) in the process.
The confident Acoba immediately began waving his arms to fire up the sold-out crowd in attendance.
After banking the half-court heave, he channeled his inner D’Angelo Russell and gestured the point guard’s signature celebratory move “ice in his veins.”
When you hit the #BigShotJackpot for $95,000, you’ve definitely got ice in your veins!! ❄️ pic.twitter.com/mSkwG1FFrT
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 4, 2017
He then exchanged high-fives with the Lakers players themselves, including Russell, Nick Young and Julius Randle.
“It’s good to see a lot of fans keeping that ‘ice in the veins’ going,” Russell praised the fan after the game. “I appreciate everybody for that. That’s a lot of money, man. Take care of it,” he told NBA.com.
Acoba, meanwhile, said he’s going to use the money to buy his mother a car.
“She’s always been there for me when I need her,” Acoba said after the game. “She’s always there to help me out. It’s my turn to repay the favor to her.”
The bewildered fan attended the game with his wife, Lenslie, and his nieces. His group was simply taking photos with some of the Laker girls, when an official asked if he wanted to participate in the half court shot contest.
“It’s surreal right now,” Acoba described his 15 minutes of fame. “I can’t believe it’s just happening right now.” Khristian Ibarrola