The NBA is all about basketball for a lot of hoop heads, but something that the owners have often spoken about is the fact that it is also an entertainment product. Basketball can create some really dramatic moments, but the spectacle of an NBA game has a lot more than that, with dancers, fancams, gifts, and talent shows to ensure that the crowds have a great time.
And every once in a while, lucky fans are given a life-changing opportunity. Make a ridiculous shot in one go and take home a ridiculous cash prize. And no one has benefited from this perhaps as much as Don Calhoun, who in 1993 threw in nearly a full-court shot and won $1,000,000.
April 14, 1993: Don Calhoun attends his first Bulls game in three years and throws in a shot that wins him $1,000,000.
According to SI, he was chosen as the contestant because a Chicago Bulls employee felt his “suede hiking boots wouldn’t scuff the court.”
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As the story goes, thanks to his gold suede shoes, Calhoun was picked out for the opportunity and he sank the shot that gave him a ridiculous sum of money. It was such an epic moment that he even got a hug from Michael Jordan as well as high-fives from the entire Bulls roster that was on the court at the time. Calhoun’s improbable shot even made the papers in Chicago the next day.
There’s also a photo of Don Calhoun on the front page of the Chicago Sun-Times in the 1993 Harrison Ford film, “The Fugitive.” pic.twitter.com/swOVne5pdj
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And Michael Jordan was quite impressed with Calhoun’s miracle moment for a different reason, he spoke about how many guys in the NBA put up endless shots to make their career and don’t earn as much as Don did in just one heave of the basketball.
Michael Jordan on Don Calhoun’s Million Dollar Shot: “One shot and he makes more than a lot of people in this league, man.”
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“One shot and he makes more than a lot of people in this league, man.”
There is something electric about high-stakes unexpected moments like this that is truly thrilling. The fact that Don Calhoun lived the dream of every person at the time is truly fascinating to think about. At the end of the day, his name will go down in a corner of the vast history of the NBA, and that’s wild to consider.
