Sixty-four-year-old Baton Rouge resident Ed Palubinskas says he would love to face the world’s best basketball players next month as Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa turns to the sport to help lure customers.
“I hope LeBron James joins, are you kidding me?” Palubinskas tells Bloomberg. “It’s not even a contest.”
The casino on March 21 will introduce skill-based gaming, recently approved by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, in the form of a free-throw contest. The winner takes home at least $5,000.
National Basketball Association members are by contract barred from joining non-league basketball events, which might be doing them a favor. The Detroit Pistons’ Jodie Meeks has made 94 of 99 free-throw attempts this season for a league-leading .949 percentage. Steve Nash is the career leader at .904, while James, a four-time league Most Valuable Player winner, has a .746 career average. Palubinskas says he has missed just three shots in 18 years of competitions.
“I’m a 99.3% shooter for 30 years,” say Palubinskas, who is a native of Canberra, Australia. “If you’re a 92% or 95% shooter, you might as well not show up.”
With a $20 entry fee, participants will have 90 seconds to take 15 free throws, with 13 balls worth one point and two different-colored balls worth two for a total of 17 possible points. The top 64 scorers will advance to the next round, from which 16 finalists will emerge. Those shooters then will be randomly placed in brackets and will compete head-to-head using the same format. Second place wins at least $3,000, while third-and fourth-place take home at least $1,000.
About 300 people have registered since the event was announced Feb. 13, according to Joe Lupo, Borgata’s senior vice president of operations. A maximum of 1,000 can enter and 500 are needed for the casino to break even. Any proceeds will add to the top four finishers’ winnings, with the casino not taking a percentage.
Palubinskas, who played basketball for Australia at the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games, where he was the leading scorer in Montreal, won’t be the only free-throw expert in attendance.
