What is the Straight Dope concerning David Letterman, Anna Paquin, $10,000, and a free-throw shot?
What I have heard: Letterman offered Paquin $10K on his show to sink a shot. She did it - then after the show, he took back the money.
True? Half-true? What?
I don’t know, but I would imagine Letterman has more than enough money to worry about $10,000.
Not that he wouldn’t, of course.
Couldn’t they still sue Letterman? Unless they legally agreed (none of that over the phone stuff)?
Wow, this actually stunned me. Define “petty”: A multi-multi millionaire like Letterman reneging on a $10,000 bet, won rightfully on national TV.
Define Petty: A multi-millionaire like Anna Paquin suing David Letterman for a measly $10,000 which was offered as a joke, on the spur of the moment. A poor guy who missed a million-dollar free throw was invited onto Letterman to try it for $10,000. He missed again, poor guy. Letterman than said, “Hey Anna, if you can make it, the money’s yours!”. And she made the shot.
You know what SHE should have done? She should have given it to the poor guy who missed the shot. That guy quit his job, hired a free-throw coach, and practiced for months. When the pressure was off, he could hit the basket just about every time. But he was just one of those guys who chokes under pressure.
But the money went to charity, which was an acceptable solution for everyone. No big deal.
Yeah, but you see, Letterman did reneg on the cash.
Paquin did not sue David Letterman.
My example is reality, yours was not.
If this is true, then, quite frankly, the man is a complete idiot and deserves to go home empty-handed for missing the shot. What else could he have done with his life during those months? Taken extra classes? Gotten a degree? Gotten some skills training? But no, he learned how to throw a basketball for a one-off chance at $10,000… well, good, and he’s dumb.
Of course, if you were just speaking hypothetically about what he did, that’s something different altogether.
Hehe, not exactly. The guy you replied to, wasn’t 100% clear about it so just let me clarifty: He quit his job and took lessons and all that stuff for a MILLION dollar shot, which he missed. I remember it being a three-point shot from the top of the key though, and not a foul shot. I could be wrong though. There have been several of these “make a shot and win money” contest and they’re easy to get confused.
Anyway, all those months of training were for a million dollar shot. He missed it. Later on, Letterman invited him on for a $10,000 shot just as a consolation I guess.
A ten-thousand dollar bet, documented on national television.
Um, isn’t this… illegal? Perhaps that’s why Letterman reneged.