He thought he'd netted the cash prize, but instead the NBL went on the defensive, refusing to pay up.

During basketball games, the NBL invites a spectator to have a shot from half way in the hope of winning a cash prize.

Nailing the basket is a long show even for the pros, and when 26-year-old Jarrod Hurley made the extraordinary shot, it brought the crowd at Adelaide Arena to their feet.

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The shot was also meant to make Jarrod $5000 richer.

"People were screaming and the announcer starts going 'five thousand dollars' - really making a bid deal of it," Jarrod recalled.

"They took down my details so they could contact me for it, that's what they did."

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But it didn't happen that way.

"I've been more or less ignored or treated like an annoyance since the day I made the shot. It's not very good to do that to somebody who is such a fan," Jarrod said.

Jarrod and his brother Phil are mad basketball fanatics.

"I actually run a fan site and I'm a season member at the 36ers. I've been to every game this year, and most of them last year," Jarrod said.

Three weeks ago they watched their Adelaide team play Townsville, in a game that Jarrod will remember forever.

He was picked from the crowd to take a shot from half court, in what's known as a Hail Mary. The rules are simple: if it goes in, you win.

Phil filmed his brother taking the shot.

"It was extraordinarily close to going in. It lodged at the back of the ring - just stuck there. It couldn't be moved. The shot hadn't been completed - until the ball hits the floor it's an unfinished shot," Jarrod said.

Without hesitation the announcer gave Jarrod a second chance and this time there was no mistaking the result.

Watching it back, both Jarrod and Phil are still in awe, but what's even more unbelievable is what Jarrod was told in the days after.

"I was told there was a debate as to what would happen as there was a second shot. Between the 36ers and iiNet and NBL there was some sort of debate about it," Jarrod said.

This reporter is on Twitter at @LucyPolks