Lakers Fan Injures Himself During $55,000 In-Game Shooting Contest

An L.A. Lakers fan not only lost out on $55,000 during a shooting contest at Sunday's game ... he also might have seriously injured his leg in the process.

The wild scene happened during a break in the action at Crytpo.com Arena ... when Lakers officials set up a game where a fan named Anthony could've scored a ton of cash if he hit a half-court shot.

Anthony initially seemed super confident he'd get the job done ... telling an in-arena host, "This is what I do."

A short time later, however, everyone in the building quickly learned this is not what Anthony does.

Check out footage from the contest ... as Anthony released the ball, he somehow hurt his left leg -- and he was hurting so much, he ultimately crumpled to the floor.

While the in-arena host attempted to get him to come back to make another attempt at earning money ... Anthony was in simply too much pain to continue.

"Let's put our hands together for the attempt," the host said as officials walked Anthony off the court.