College Freshman Beats Damian Lillard in All-Star Shooting Contest, Wins $100,000: 'So Surreal'

Mar. 15, 2025

All-Star shooting contest winner Jaren Barajas, an 18-year-old college freshman from Oakley, right, poses with his father Michael after beating Damian Lillard in a three-point contest to win $100,000 at the All-Star Game on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, in San Francisco.Photo:AP Photo/Janie McCauley

AP Photo/Janie McCauley

A college freshman is six figures richer after beating Milwaukee Bucks’Damian Lillardin a high stakes shooting contest.

Jaren Barajas, a business student at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg, Calif., won $100,000 after besting Lillard in MrBeast’s three-point shootout contest during the NBA’s All-Star game on Sunday, Feb. 16.

“This is going to mean the world to me, it’s going to help my family a lot and definitely my future,” Barajas said, per theAssociated Press. “Hopefully it’ll help me pay for my education, which it will.”

In thehead-turning match, held at San Francisco’s Chase Center, Barajas was selected at random from the crowd. To win, he had to make one shot from the logo at half-court before Lillard made three from the same spot.

Damian Lillard during the 74th NBA All-Star Game at Chase Center on February 16, 2025 in San Francisco, California.Ezra Shaw/Getty

Ezra Shaw/Getty

After taking turns for several rounds, Lillard scored two baskets and Barajas had zero. He needed to make one before Lillard scored his third in order to win. After Barajas' final chance (and some sideline advice from Kenny Smith,Shaquille O’NealandStephen Curry), he made the basket as the buzzer went off, sparking a roaring celebration from the crowd.

Asked if he knew the ball would go in, Barajas said yes, pointing out that that shot was “definitely more aligned” than his previous attempts. “I held my follow-through at the end so Kenny’s advice [worked].

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He also credited an old-school tip from his father for helping him sink the winning shot.

“It was coming down to the wire, we had 30 seconds left and my dad always tells me use the backboard,” Barajas said, per the AP. “That’s what I had to do to make it go in.”

“I couldn’t keep a smile off my face after that … [the seats] were a couple of rows from as tall as you can get.”

“I didn’t even know I was coming to the game, so to have this experience it’s so surreal. I’m so thankful,” said Jaren to the AP. His father added, “It was all luck, meant to be, I don’t know. I can’t believe it.”

He thanked his father for taking him to the game and “letting me shine in the moment.”

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Barajas plans on saving “a lot of” the money he won, and putting another portion toward college and helping his family, he said in a video shared on the NBA’s official X account. “It’s been tough a little bit but this will help a lot. Help with my future and my family.”

“I still can’t process that this is happening,” he added. “To meet all those players I grew up watching … a crazy experience.”

If Lillard, an Oakland, Calif., native won, $100,000 would be donated to charity. Although the NBA star lost, the league announced viaXthat it would still give $50,000 to the Damian Lillard Scholars Program and $50,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oakland and San Francisco.

As for Lillard, even he was a fan of the buzzer-beating win.

“It was dramatic, he made it as the clock was going off,” he told the AP of the final seconds. “I love being part of stuff like that where you can impact somebody else.”

Still nearly breathless after his stunning win, Jaren the outlet: “I just beat Damian Lillard.”

source: people.com