Basketball
How Lethal Shooter became the most sought-after shooting coach
Find out which NBA stars inspired the most sought-after shooting coach in the world to start posting his own shooting videos online.
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Countless athletes have had their dreams of athletic greatness derailed by untimely injuries. But when Chris Matthews got knocked down, he had the courage and resiliency to pivot into a new path that ultimately led him to be the top basketball shooting coach he is today, AKA Lethal Shooter.
"When my lung collapsed in South America, I started realising I was kind of chasing something and it was the universe and God telling me like you love basketball, but it’s time to try do something else," Lethal says in Life & Basketball: The Rise of Lethal Shooter. "And I said to myself 'What are you going to do with your life? Are you going to just rot away or are you going to do something?'”
53 min
Life & Basketball: The Rise of Lethal Shooter
Head behind the scenes to meet one of basketball's most incredible men – Chris Matthews, aka Lethal Shooter.
He decided to do something about it. "In 2013/2014, the NBA started shifting to a game that I felt like was suitable for me," says Lethal. "The 3 point shot, literally like the evolution of basketball, with Steph Curry and Klay [Thompson] and what these guys started doing, its like 'Man I think I might be able to play in the NBA.'"
In the past 10 years, there has been more 3 point shots than ever before. In 2012, the 3 point attempt rate was 24% and in 2022, the rate grew to 40%.
"So I got to a point that I could show people how good I am with the art of shooting using social media to get that same wave as Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, so I said to myself I’m going to start doing shooting videos."
After posting his first shooting video, "I realised hold up, all these people are like 'You have a nice form, you have a nice base, you have a beautiful jump shot. Who showed you how to shoot? Can you show me how to shoot?'" he says. "So I said you know what, I’m going to start posting more shooting videos. I’m at 20k followers, then 60k followers, 200,000."
People started taking notice of my abilities because of how the NBA was.
Lethal started posting shooting videos around 2016. "People started taking notice of my abilities because of how the NBA was. So Dwight Howard hits me up," says Lethal. "This time Dwight Howard is going to the Hawks. I go to Atlanta and Dwight gives me a two day trial period. I watched film on Dwight for about 3 weeks straight, but he didn’t realize everything I’ve been through my whole life, this was my moment to show the world because Dwight Howard is a house hold name. So I start helping Dwight, the second day, his guy is like 'How much would it cost for you to live here for the summer?'"
And the rest was history. "I feel like I was born to help others. I was born to be a trainer, I was born to be a motivator. Sometimes I help so many other people that my life isn’t always as perfect as it needs to be. When I feel like I help other people, that’s what I feel like completes my life."
See Lethal's journey from beginning to now on Red Bull TV in his new documentary, "Life & Basketball: The Rise of Lethal Shooter."
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