Oakley teen Jaren Barajas stole the show at Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game, winning a half-court shooting contest against NBA star Damian Lillard, and earning himself a $100,000 prize in the process.

If you watched Sunday night’s frankly quite boring NBA All-Star Game played at the Chase Center, you are aware that there were many painfully long time-killers during the broadcast in between the actual basketball game components. But one of those time-killers turned out to be quite entertaining, and not just because we didn’t have to hear Kevin Hart during the segment.

There was a little contest sponsored by YouTube star MrBeast, called the MrBeast $100,000 Challenge. The challenge involved some random audience member going up against Milwaukee Bucks star and Oakland native Damian Lillard, and trying to shoot one successful basket from the half-court logo in the time that it took Lillard to make three such shots.    

The audience member selected was 18-year-old Oakley teen Jaren Barajas. And the Chronicle reports that Barajas did indeed hit the half court shot, and won the $100,000.


“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 told the Associated Press. “I’m so thankful.”

The full six-minute segment is above. (You’ll have to forgive MrBeast for his greeting, “How’s it going , San Fran?”) Lillard had made two of the half-court shots, and was on the verge of hitting the third that would have defeated Barajas. But the young Barajas hit the half-court shot on his eighth attempt, right as the buzzer sounded to wrap up this lengthy segment and break for a commercial.

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

Barajas didn’t even have good seats for the game, telling the Chronicle that he and his father’s seats were “pretty much as high as you can go.” Yet he still managed to get selected to go on court for a contest, and certainly made the most of his opportunity.

According to KTVU, Barajas is a freshman studying business at Pittsburg’s Los Medanos College, and did play high school basketball last year at Freedom High School in Oakley.

Related: Steph Curry Wins MVP Trophy In Otherwise Extremely Humdrum NBA All-Star Game [SFist]

Image: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 16: Jaren Barajas celebrates after making a half court shot during the 74th NBA All-Star Game at Chase Center on February 16, 2025 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)