'Kidney karma' leads to Pop-A-Shot championship win for Mitch Phillis

In August 2026, Mitch Phillis found himself in an unexpected position: winning ESPN's National Pop-A-Shot championship. 

Mitch played the arcade-style basketball game a lot as a child, even using his paper route money to buy a fold-up version of the game. He rediscovered the game in college, using that same fold-up version, but had not played much since then. He learned about the national competition years before his win, but never seriously considered competing nationally until he found himself in another unexpected position in April 2026: recovering from donating a kidney to his father.

"The whole surgery actually spurred all that to happen," said Mitch. "I wouldn't have done it before, but because of this whole thing, it felt like things happen in life and people get sick and maybe you should try to do something you want to do, while you're feeling good and you're alive. And I want to try to do this."

His competitors even joked that they had no chance against Mitch because he had "kidney karma" and "good voodoo" from becoming a living kidney donor.

Mitch said that donating a kidney is "not something I ever really thought about before." Even after his father first found out his kidney function was declining 10 years ago, Mitch didn't think it was anything that serious.

"In the beginning, he was so kind of casual about it… he never acted worried or scared," said Mitch. He said his father was even in "disbelief," since he didn't feel any symptoms and was optimistic that he would be fine. 

When his father's kidney function declined to the point of kidney failure in December 2025, he was told he would need a new kidney or would have to begin dialysis treatments. Mitch's father continued his determined optimism, never doubting he would find a kidney transplant match. 

And in March 2026, his optimism was proved right.

Several immediate family members, including Mitch's two sisters and his wife, volunteered to be tested. Unfortunately, they were all disqualified for one reason or another. 

"We didn't really push to extended family yet, but I was the last of the immediate family that called in and then it all worked out and worked fast," explained Mitch.

Three weeks later, father and son had a successful transplant surgery. 

"You kind of have nerves [the day of surgery]," Mitch said. "[But] it was kind of cool because it was me and my dad beside each other." 

The two tried to make the experience "as fun as we could." However, their hopes of recovering in the same room were dashed when the doctor nixed their request. "He said, 'You guys want to hang out and watch TV together and I want you to walk down the hallway to do that. You need to walk and move,'" Mitch explained. To encourage that movement, the doctor put them on opposite ends of the hallway. 

After the surgery, Mitch said the first few days were "no joke" as his body adjusted to the loss of an organ. However, overall, Mitch was pleasantly surprised with how well he recovered.

"It's not that bad," he said. "It's a few days or a week of being uncomfortable and maybe losing a little bit of sleep because you're uncomfortable and feeling a little bit weird, but I feel totally normal."

Mitch said his father was also "feeling great" right after surgery. "He's been getting better and better."

As for Mitch's Pop-A-Shot career, he is automatically pre-qualified for the national championship in 2027 and has upgraded from the fold-up game to the elite version. Hopefully the "kidney karma" will last another year.