When Fred San Nicolas II and his teenage son Dylan went to watch the Phoenix Suns play the Portland Trailblazers on Feb. 22, they were looking forward to a little father-son time, but it turned into so much more.
When they entered the Mortgage Matchup Center, a Suns staffer approached the pair and asked the 42-year-old San Nicolas if he would like to join the Gila River Resorts & Casino Half-Court Shot promotional contest, a basketball shooting challenge for an opportunity to win $10,000.
The rules of the contest were simple: Make more free throws than one other person within 24 seconds and you will receive one chance to make a half-court shot. If you make the 42-footer, you win the money.
Before the end of the first quarter, the promoters gathered San Nicolas and his opponent and ushered them to the opposing free-throw lines.
San Nicolas, 24 seconds later, had made only three free throws.
“I thought I actually lost,” said San Nicolas, a graduate of Father Duenas Memorial School and the University of Guam.
“‘Congratulations to Fred,’” San Nicolas recalled hearing his name ring out through the public address system.
“Whoever’s name you hear, it just triggers you to go to center court, getting ready for the shot. So that whole span – the free throw shots and the half-court shot – was literally less than two and a half minutes,” he said.
As San Nicolas walked to center court, the Suns’ cheerleaders lined up in front of him and the emcee called for a drum roll and said: “‘Shoot when ready.’”
As the background noise slipped away, his focus was calm and complete.
“The noise kind of blends in. There was really nothing to be nervous about,” San Nicolas said. … “It was a fantastic core memory with my son being able to attend the game and join me. So why would I be nervous in the sense that, what’s the worst thing that can happen – miss the shot? If I missed the shot, perfectly fine.”
Sporting blue jeans, a black hoodie, a Phoenix Suns jersey and a pair of Nike Book 1 basketball shoes, San Nicolas, amid the theatrics, dribbled the ball 15 times, then let it rip.
Nothing but net!
“I thought it was short because, after seeing the replay, the shot was so clean it just hit net, no rim, no backboard, no nothing,” said San Nicolas, who didn’t immediately react after draining the money ball. … “I didn’t have a reaction then and there until I heard the crowd roar and ‘The Gorilla’ (Phoenix Suns mascot) kind of rush me. That’s when I knew that I finally made it.”
Moments later, former NBA great Tom Chambers congratulated him and invited he and Dylan to sit behind him and watch the rest of the game near his courtside seats.
The rest of the game was a blur. The Suns lost. His mind was elsewhere.
“After the shot, it was such a cool experience because everyone kind of recognized me throughout the arena,” San Nicolas said. “It was kind of that 15-minutes-of-fame moment.
“Great experience. Unreal. Surreal.”
Back to work
After the game, after the glow from the moment subsided somewhat, the San Nicolases returned home, where Fred’s other kids looked at their father differently. He wasn’t just dad, he was super dad.
“I would say that being a dad with teenage kids kind of gives you a little bit more credibility in their eyes,” said San Nicolas, wearing the street cred like a badge of honor.
But it wasn’t just his own kids who saw their father in a brighter light, the children he coaches at the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale also saw him differently. He wasn’t just coach San Nicolas anymore, he was their hero.
“You can see it in their eyes. It’s amazing,” he said.