Senator Ted Cruz of Texas defeated liberal comedian talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel, in a friendly charity game of one-on-one basketball known as the “Blobfish Basketball Classic” on Saturday night. The game raised thousands in charity after Cruz challenged Kimmel to a friendly wager after the comedian insulted Sen. Cruz for being a Houston Rockets fan.
(Via Fox News)
“The reason this is happening is because after Game 7 of the [NBA] Western Conference Finals, I likened Sen. Cruz to a blobfish,” Kimmel explained, according to Deadline.com. “And he did not like that … so he challenged me to a game of one-on-one. And I accepted.”
The two players agreed that the loser would donate $5,000 to a charity picked by the winner, but both later agreed to donate $10,000 to both charities, the Texas Tribune reported.
The Texas senator met with former Duke phenom and Cruz-lookalike, Grayson Allen, before the game for a few tips.
Picking up my stand in… are you ready, @jimmykimmel? #KimmelvsCruz #CruzToVictory pic.twitter.com/z8LGoM0ljV
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 16, 2018
Cruz beat Kimmel last night by a final score of 11-9, but the two contestants both agreed that Generation One and Texas Children's charities were the real winners.
Agreed. Two great charities run by great people. https://t.co/VBDhB8YNso
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) June 17, 2018
Some of Cruz's basketball skills can be seen in the following video:
Ted Cruz relying hard on the right. pic.twitter.com/8crmawT9UM
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) June 17, 2018