The All-Star Game brings out the talent and the best of the best. The players come ready to put on a show for the fans, but sometimes, there are fans that also come ready for their own time in the spotlight.
This year, in addition to the new changes and format of the All-Star Game, there were other challenges added to the weekend, one of which surprised many of us watching.
Mr. Beast Hosts Shootout for Lucky Fan Against Damian Lillard
Damian Lillard lost to a fan in the Mr. Beast $100,000 Challengepic.twitter.com/j2TCfhellK
— PFSN (@PFN365) February 17, 2025
The viral sensation Mr. Beast is well-known for his videos online that showcase him putting people in different scenarios to win money. For All-Star weekend, Mr. Beast decided it would be a great idea to give a lucky fan the chance to win money with some conditions. The condition? Defeating Damian Lillard in a 3-point shootout.
Now, for those of you who may not be aware, Mr. Beast is the most successful YouTuber in the world, and as I’m sure you presumed, he is very wealthy. He has over 363 million subscribers on his YouTube and boasts a number of great feats, such as helping 2,000 people walk again, removing 30 million pounds of trash from the ocean, among many other accomplishments.
Mr. Beast being a part of All-Star weekend showcases that the NBA wanted to do something major, and that was definitely accomplished with this shootout. It was designed to be short and to the point but ended up running a little longer than expected, so they put a time limit on it. This presented a challenge for both the fan and Lillard, especially as the clock began to wind down.
Jaren Wins 100,000 From Mr. Beast
On the bright side, it could have been worse. Mr. Beast could have asked Stephen Curry to be a part of the challenge, which might have been an impossible hill for most fans to climb. I mean, Curry was only the unofficial host for All-Star weekend in The Bay and the greatest shooter of all time. Imagine having to win a shootout against the greatest to ever do it on his home turf.
Luckily for the fan named Jaren, he wasn’t being asked to make 10 or 15 shots, only one. One 3-pointer was all he needed to take the $100,000, and he just needed to do it before Lillard made three shots. As luck would have it, Dame couldn’t make three shots before the fan hit his one (and right before the buzzer) to walk away with the money.
It was a feel-good moment in the arena as the fan was mobbed by Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and all of the mascots. I’m sure Jaren will remember that moment for the rest of his life.
