With the NBA back on NBC for the first time in 24 years, Tuesday nights are once again for hoops—and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is getting in on the action. To celebrate NBC’s new “Coast 2 Coast Tuesday” NBA broadcasts, Fallon launched a new weekly segment Tuesday night called “The Tonight Show One Shot Jackpot.”
The bit combines live-game energy with the NBC late-night show’s classic audience-participation vibe. Each week, one audience member will get the chance to make a half-court basketball shot for $10,000, with the jackpot rolling over if no one sinks it.
Fallon kicked off the premiere installment with help from his guest, Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, who joined the host onstage to draw a random seat number from a basketball filled with audience numbers. The lucky contestant: Maggie from Long Beach.
Maggie admitted she doesn’t play basketball—“I don’t,” she told Fallon—but gamely took her shot. The crowd cheered in support as Fallon shouted encouragement (“We believe in you!”).
Though her throw fell short, Fallon sent Maggie home with a consolation prize: a Tonight Show sweatshirt signed by both him and Young, along with a handwritten message reading, “You were here.”
“More money will be added to the ‘Tonight Show One Shot Jackpot’ for next week,” Fallon said, teasing the segment’s return.
Fallon’s “One Shot Jackpot” isn’t the only way The Tonight Show is leaning into basketball Tuesday nights. As it’s done for post-football broadcasts in the past, the show has begun airing a special basketball-themed open and bumper graphics on Tuesday nights. This week’s broadcast also featured a comedy bit about NBA player names and a special appearance from Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul.
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