Student beats Bucks' Lillard in 3-point contest to win $100k

Jaren Barajas shoots on his backyard hoop maybe once a month these days. He's a busy 18-year-old college student now, so basketball has taken a backseat to academics.

On Sunday night with the world watching, though, Barajas somehow beat Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard in a 3-point shooting contest during the All-Star Game and won $100,000.

Barajas called the moment "life-changing."

"This is going to mean the world to me, it's going to help my family a lot and definitely my future," he said. "Hopefully it'll help me pay for my education, which it will."

Lillard needed to make three long logo 3s to win, while Barajas had to hit just one basket from way back — and with the clock winding down, and Lillard having missed after they'd announced those would be the final attempts by both players, Barajas let it fly once more — and sunk his shot.

Off the backboard, no less, just as his father had always taught him: use the glass. It was his sixth or seventh attempt, neither Barajas nor his dad could remember for sure.

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

Lillard, despite losing, loved the fantastic finish.

"It was dramatic, he made it as the clock was going off," said Lillard, an Oakland native. "I love being part of stuff like that where you can impact somebody else."

Barajas wasn't even supposed to be here, even though the teen had been hoping to attend ever since Chase Center became the 2025 host for the NBA's midseason showcase.

"I got surprised with these tickets yesterday, so I didn't even know I was coming to the game, so to have this experience it's so surreal," Barajas said. "I'm so thankful."

His dad, Michael, was monitoring ticket prices, before something in his range turned up Saturday and he went for it.

He shared the great news with his son and they arrived early to the arena from the East Bay suburb of Oakley, then, by sheer luck, Jaren was asked whether he might like to participate. The father and son couldn't believe their good fortune — his dad fought his emotions afterward.

"He wanted to go to the game, prices were pretty high so I kept watching the prices come down, and once I found them where I could afford them, I bought them and surprised him with them yesterday," Michael Barajas said. "I can't believe we're right here, but I'm glad I did it. He deserves it and I'm proud of him."

The NBA said it would donate $50,000 to Oakland native Lillard's newly established scholarship fund, benefitting nine high schools in the East Bay, as well as $50,000 to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Oakland and San Francisco.

Lillard appreciated how well it worked out to impact so many.

"I knew that it would be a win-win situation. I knew that it would be helpful for my scholarship partnership that I just started, and I knew it would be extremely helpful to someone else," Lillard said.

The teen is a freshman studying business at Los Medanos College, a two-year school in nearby Pittsburg. So, he will transfer eventually.

"It was all luck, meant to be, I don't know," Michael Barajas said, "I can't believe it."

Jaren was still just trying to catch his breath after the experience of a lifetime.

"I just beat Damian Lillard."

Agencies via Xinhua