- Fans online called out the Knicks for the prize, which looked diminutive compared to the $100,000 the Los Angeles Lakers awarded a fan the previous week.
- YouTuber MrBeast offered to send him $10,000 as congratulations for his half-court make.
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Anthony Peterson made a half-court shot at a New York Knicks game over the weekend to win $1,000 in scratch-off lottery tickets.
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Half-court shootouts are nothing new to the NBA world.
As a quirky bit of in-arena entertainment, teams will often invite fans onto the court to try and sink a shot from half-court. Just a week ago, one lucky Los Angeles Lakers fan won $100,000 for his half-court heroics.
Anthony Peterson, who was plucked out of the crowd at a New York Knicks game over the weekend, was not so lucky.
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Stepping up to half-court with confidence during Friday's game against the Pelicans, Peterson sunk his shot and went bonkers celebrating.
But rather than winning $100,000, his prize was instead $1,000 ... in scratch-off lottery tickets.
"I was sort of like, 'What the f--- man? Some dude just won $100,000 doing the same shit in L.A. and I get some bum-ass lottery tickets,'" Peterson told The Action Network's Rob Perez . "Still a blessing though."
According to The Action Network, prizes for Knicks half-court shooters are determined by a wheel-spin made by the contestant. When Peterson learned of his prize, he was more concerned for his wrist than his wallet.
"Well, when they said scratch-offs I instantly got a headache because I was going to have to scratch them all off," Peterson said. "I thought about who I could hire to do it for me, but then figured they might want some of the money, so I negated that idea."
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After scratching off all 200 of the tickets that accounted for his grand prize, Peterson said he had $500 worth of winners. Had the Knicks eliminated the middle-man and just given Peterson the $1,000 directly, he would have finished twice as well off.
On Twitter, fans roasted the Knicks for the prize they had offered Peterson.
After Peterson's moment blew up on Twitter, charity-minded YouTuber MrBeast reached out, offering $10,000 to Peterson to celebrate his moment at Madison Square Garden.
"I thought it was a joke but," Peterson told ESPN of MrBeast's offer. "Then my friends were like 'NAH THIS GUY IS FOR REAL FOR REAL' so everybody kept tagging me in his tweets (shoutout my friends!) and eventually he followed and DM'd me and the rest is history."
Peterson told The Action Network he plans on using the money to invest, buying stock in either Disney or Tesla.
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