It had been seven years since Justin Jimenez brought his sons to a Lakers game, so this time the boys took it into their own hands.
They bought their dad tickets for his birthday, and fate intervened when Jimenez was approached to take a half-court shot worth $45,000 — though he took some persuading.
“I was like, ‘Ah, the boys are here, we came up from San Diego — what are the chances of me making it?’” Jimenez said. “Nobody was expecting me to make it, so why not?”
Jimenez, a 46-year-old business intelligence engineer, simply didn’t want to airball the Park MGM Big Shot Jackpot. Instead he did much more than that, draining from center court.
STAPLES Center has been a source of unbelievable luck for the Jimenez men. They came to see Drake’s show in October, and were upgraded to floor seats by people from the tour.
Now (just in time for his oldest to start applying to colleges), Jimenez earned himself some big money with the shot of his life.
“This is unreal,” Jimenez said. “I can’t believe this just happened.”