LETHAL WEAPON How Chris Matthews—aka Lethal Shooter—became the most in-demand shooting coach the NBA and the rest of basketball culture has ever seen. Words ALEX BHATTACHARJI
COURTESY OF @LETHALSHOOTER
Chris Matthews never expected
to watch the highlight of his basketball career on television. It came on the NBA season’s opening night, a few days before last Christmas, when the Los Angeles Lakers’ players and coaches received their championship rings. Matthews, aka Lethal Shooter, had tutored more than half of the title-winning team on the method he calls the Art of Shooting. He coached forward Kyle Kuzma and guards Quinn Cook and Talen Horton-Tucker, and “I worked in the off-season with AD for a few weeks,” he says, referring to All-NBA power forward Anthony Davis. Matthews also instructed several now-former Lakers: guard Avery Bradley, who signed with the Miami Heat, and swingman Danny Green, who was later traded to the Philadelphia THE RED BULLETIN
76ers. The Sixers also signed center Dwight Howard, one of Matthews’ first students several years ago. Watching from his home in L.A., Matthews was excited for each of his students. “I was blessed to be able to help them achieve a goal,” says Matthews. “I come in here and there just to help those guys.” But Matthews only became overcome with emotion when Kentavious CaldwellPope, the Lakers’ starting shooting guard, kissed his diamond-encrusted ring before placing it on his finger. Matthews calls this “the most satisfying moment I ever had.” He had started working with Caldwell-Pope the year before the Lakers’ championship season and helped lift him out of a slump. After strong shooting in the pandemic-shortened regular season,
Caldwell-Pope excelled in the playoffs: Over the course of the title run, he made more 3-pointers than almost every Laker in history, save for Kobe Bryant in 2010. “And am I the person getting the ring? Am I the person that’s re-signing with the Lakers for money?” he says of CaldwellPope’s three-year, $39.1 million contract extension. “No. But to see him win in life is what it’s all about for me as a coach.” In less than five years, Matthews has leveraged this commitment to become the NBA’s most in-demand shooting coach. Regardless of who wins the next title, Matthews will likely have more reason to celebrate. There is hardly a team in the league without a past or current client on their roster. But Matthews’ influence goes far beyond pro 33
