Gilbert Arenas explains how a homeless man helped him win $300,000 lottery

The kind gesture of a homeless man helped former NBA star Gilbert Arenas win the lottery.  Arenas, a three-time all-star who made more than $160 million in his 11-year NBA career, shared the story on Sunday. Here's how it went down, according to Arena's Instagram post.

Last Tuesday, Arenas was running out of time. He had eight minutes to get to his preferred gas station in Calabasas to play the same lottery numbers he always plays. He rushed out of his house.

 

 

 

 

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This caption is not about good deed but about a struggling mans sacrifice and belief 🙏🏾 may 12th I rushed out the house to play my lotto numbers😬forgot my money and the car was on E🤷🏾‍♂️ I had a whole $10 in the car😂😂😂 I pulled up to the gas station to get $10 worth so I can head to (my hook up gas station) and then a struggling man says (hey sir can u spare me some change) my first thought was 🗣PHUCK I don't have time for this shit today😩 so I said mannn I have $10 for some gas and that's it,I have 8 mins to get to the other gas station to play my numbers before it's to late🤯 he says u can play here...I said the other gas station lets me push the buttons myself🤪 he then says how far u going! My brain is saying (the fuck u asking all the questions for ) so I was only going to CALABASAS which was 7 mins away but lied and said Thousand Oaks which was at least 16 mins away so before he did the math on everything I said " 8 mins before the cut off but it's 16 mins away" I said listen I'll just use $5 dollars for gas and u can have the other $5 😇 he then says (from here to Thousand Oaks and back) u won't make it on $5 so KEEP the $10 and after u WIN hook me up with $20! I said are u sure he said yes 💯 I know ur gonna win💯 by the time I got to the my hookup gas station they were closed I guess they closed early for repair so I didn't get to play my numbers😡😡😡 I wake up to a text Wednesday morning saying congratulations U won 300k 😱 I've heard this scammer type shit happening so I ignored the next becuz I didn't get to play my numbers so I couldn't have won shit....I went to the gas station later that day to play powerball that was later that night and the owner runs out saying YOU WON i texted u 👀 I said huh I didn't play yesterday..he said I played ur numbers for u becuz I was closing early and u WON 😱🤯 long story short.....I pulled up on my guy yesterday and gave him his cut (for his safety) won't say the number 🤐he jumped up and hugged me for 5 mins crying and then started to pray💯 I've given back to the homeless BUT never was blessed by one 🙏🏾😇 his good hearted gesture of me making it back home blessed that ticket💯 #happysunday

A post shared by Gilbert Arenas (@no.chill.gil) on May 17, 2020 at 11:31am PDT

He had $10 in his car and no gas in his tank, so he stopped to quickly fill up.  A man asked Arenas if he could spare some change. An initially frustrated Arenas explained his situation to the man, that he had $10 and only had a few minutes to get to another gas station to play his lottery numbers.

Arenas offered to give the man $5 and use the other $5 for gas. The man said $5 worth of gas wouldn't be enough to get Arenas to and from the gas station he said he said he was going to. The two talked back-and-forth before the man told Arenas to "Keep the $10 and after you win, hook me up with $20. I know you're going to win." 

Arenas left and drove to his "hook up gas station," but it had already closed when he got there so he didn't get to play his numbers. 

The next morning, Arenas woke up to a text telling him he won $300,000, but he wrote it off as a scam, especially because he didn't even get to play the night before. He went on with his day and went to his go-to gas station. 

The owner ran out of the store. "YOU WON," the gas station owner told Arenas. "I texted you."

Arenas was confused. He couldn't have won because the gas station closed before he was even able to get there to type in the same six numbers he always picks. 

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The owner knew the numbers he plays, and since he closed his store early, he played Arenas' numbers for him. Arenas hit on the first five white balls of the May 12 Mega Millions drawing: 7, 16, 27, 44 and 52, making him the winner of $309,694. (The mega ball was 5, which would've given Arenas the $248 million jackpot.)

He went back to the man from the first gas station. Arenas wouldn't say how much he gave him, but it was enough that the man "jumped up and hugged me for five minutes, crying," according to Arenas. 

"I've given back to the homeless but never was blessed by one," Arenas wrote. "His good-hearted gesture of me making it back home blessed that ticket."