CHRIS MATTHEWS (aka “LETHAL SHOOTER”)

Renowned basketball skills coach battled through obstacles and setbacks, creating a unique path to global fame. Chris explains how he motivates and tutors NBA/WNBA stars (and major celebrities) and how “staying locked in” can help anyone reach their full potential.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Shooting a basketball is one form of therapy for me,
preferably in an empty gym or a deserted park. It
can be flow state, pure bliss when my shots are falling.
Problem is a'mount of talented shooter. I never was a
real hooper, so plenty of days there's zero consistency and

(00:30):
zero flow. So last year I posted my frustrations on
Instagram at a whole bunch of comments suggested that only
at lethal Shooter could salvage my jumper. Now he's the
most famous, most sought after basketball skills coach on the planet.
He's tutored NBA and w n B A grades and
a collection of superstars from all over the entertainment world

(00:53):
who just want to shoot better. He's made it an
art form to put a nine and a half inch
ball through an eighteen inch rim ten ft off the
ground from twenty two feet away and makes it look effortless.
Lethal Shooter is Chris Matthews, and his story will inspire
and motivate you. Chris has faced obstacles and setbacks, disappointments, heartbreak.

(01:15):
He chased his long shot dream all over the globe
for years and always refused to quit. He was driven
to never let down the people who believed in him.
His discipline and focus are summed up by his motto
stay locked in. There was so much fun to get
locked in on all kinds of topics, Chris's unique path

(01:38):
of success, how he coaches basketball legends and celebrities, and
even video analysis of my shaky jump shot. Today, I've
got Chris lethal shooter Matthews. Well, Chris, I'm grateful for
your time. Millions of people know your shooting skills. Most
of them probably know your credentials as a as a

(01:59):
world around shooting coach. I think less people probably know
your story. So from being a survivor and persevering and
pivoting and grinding and creating for yourself a career and
a life where there was zero blueprint for that before
you came along. What's the headline? Will start with that

(02:20):
and get to some other stuff. The headline of your story?
Do you think people need to understand on an essential level?
Just basically, you know, if you want to be successful
in life, it's going to be a rough route. You
know you're definitely gonna hit walls in life. Um, and
don't get distracted. I feel like I am where I
am in life because the people that instilled to me
that just they made me understand that my surroundings wasn't

(02:43):
gonna dictate my outcome. So I grew up in the Washington,
D c. Area. Um, I grew up in a rough neighborhood. Um,
there's a lot of things going on, but those are
things that I didn't get involved with. Those are things
that I didn't distract me. UM. And I didn't allow
those things to stop me because I always knew when
my goal was in life, but I didn't know what
I wanted. You know, I thought I was gonna play basketball,
though I was gonna be a teacher. I thought there

(03:04):
was so many things going through my mind. And once
I figured out what I really wanted to do in life,
you know, once it was a clear picture, I just
went after it. But it wouldn't have started if I
didn't have the right people around me that gave me
the foundation to just understand in life, you know you
are gonna fail. Just stay focused. You're gonna have distraction
in life, but stay focused and don't allow your community
or the things around you to stop you. Because you

(03:25):
you know you're a special one. You call them walls.
Walls can be pretty thick and pretty high and pretty
impenetrable and pretty hard to break through. What was it
inside of you? I know you got help and yet
good mentors, What was it inside of you that helped
you break through those walls when they were sharing right
at you? Just basically a lot of my mentors that
helped me, Um, they weren't really successful in their goal,

(03:48):
if that makes sense. So the reason why they were
so good to push me and to teach me is
because they let me know where they stopped, They let
me know where they failed. They let me know, um,
how they've made mistakes. So that's why I was a
would skip a few steps to not make my mistakes
in life. So when I did hit a wall and
I did, UM want to quit? Um, I used. You know,
I think about coaching nut, I'll think about my dad.

(04:09):
I think about semi on different coaches that instill the
toughness in me because they were honest with me, you know,
especially my my dad that raised me. Like you know,
I would have been this if I had kept up
with this, So I would have been that if I
wouldn't allow this, you know, stay away from drugs, stay
away from alcohol. So I feel like those type of
things definitely still to this day with me being the

(04:29):
age I am with my family, I still and still that,
you know, with myself and my and my kids. So
you were a pretty damn good shooter early. Thus the
name lethal, right, that's not a marketing thing, that's not
about branding. That's the name you got really young from
somebody who was really important in your life. Yeah. Yeah,
So when I was younger, my dad used to call
me lethal, but it wasn't lethal shooter. Uh And when

(04:52):
I was coming up with this Instagram name, I was
just confused. I didn't know what type of name I
wanted to use. You know, back then, probably you're probably
coming up with her name is. I was confused, So
I said, when I was just coming up with lethal
shooter because my dad used to always call me lethal,
and it's just an honor to have that name. He's
he's called me that since like middle school. And I
definitely don't take a uh lightly because when my dad

(05:13):
used to come to my games, I was always trying to,
you know, just make him happy, and I felt, I
felt that the best games I always plays when he
was there because I was able to look at him,
and I was able to get that like connection with
my dad to know, like, I'm doing this for you
and I'm doing this for us, and I appreciate you
for always believing in me. So you know, everything I
do to this day, shooting videos, training clients, anything has

(05:34):
to do with basketball, I'm thinking about my dad because
you know, I go back to all the way to
like St. Gabriel's when my dad was with me elementary school,
helping me with basketball. St. Botoventure was your second college.
You shot lights out, but I'm told like you were
always a born coach, whether it's in high school on college,
you would look at other guys shots. You would always,

(05:54):
besides developing yourself, had that kind of innaid ability to
sort of help other people out, and they they sought
you out. As I've heard coaching be called a calling,
you know, and you you kind of always seem to
have that calling. Yeah, absolutely, But you know I really
didn't recognize until, like you know, when you get older,
you know. Um. The person that really brought it to

(06:14):
my attention. Rest in Peace was coach John Thompson. One
time we were at Georgetown working out with the players
and a few guys were making mistakes on my team,
but I was just telling them how to fix the
jump shot because I wanted to win the pick up games,
you know what I mean, something like, hey, you know,
do this, do that when you shoot, do this, do
this to that. And that's when he he pulled me
to the side and say, hey, I want you to
help one of our guys with the artist shooting. And

(06:36):
if you ever want to come here to help, to
be on staff, you can be on staff. And Georgetown
is one of the first places that actually gave me
opportunity if I wanted to be a coach. And then
when I started realizing that my life, playing in France,
playing in high school, playing at AU, I was always
that guy that was trying to help my teammates, not
because I wanted to be a coach, you know what
I mean. I was just trying to help them because

(06:56):
they were on my team. So now that I'm able
to help professional fleets, you know, help celebrities and and
just to help people in general, the art of shooting,
it just comes natural because I love basketball and I
love helping others learn new things. Use that phrase art
of shooting, not science, not anything else art. How do
you define the art I'm shooting the ball. Yeah, I

(07:18):
define as the art because it's something that I take
very seriously. You know, my clients can tell you. Of course,
the stuff I post on Instagram and I'm just having
a good time when I'm posting celebrities and stuff. But
when I trained my real clients like Sa Bonus and
Anthony Davis and Grayson Island, Bobby Portis, etcetera. List goes on.
I take it very serious because it is an art.
It's something that starts from your toes all the way

(07:39):
to your brain. You know, if you can't be an
elite shooter like Steph Curry or Clay Thompson or Kevin Durant,
if every single piece of your body doesn't understand what
to do when you shoot the basketball, you know, it's
just like somebody that's a good at pitching or Tiger
Woods that's good in golf, like he can literally control
everything when he's when he's hitting that ball. And that's
why it's an art because once like move, once like blank,

(08:01):
that's wrong. If you don't breathe the right way, you
can miss. And that's why the best of the best
and they they're able to control everything from top to bottom.
And and that's why I feel like it's the art
because it's just like a piece of artwork. You know,
when somebody paints something, it starts from from top to bottom.
They don't just just put anything on the canvas. You
work with kids, you mold jump shots from scratch, you

(08:23):
work with beginners, You work with celebrities who are the elite.
But you also work with the elite shooters in the
world and offer ideas and tweak shots that are already good.
So which part of that it's more satisfying to you?
I would say all of it, you know, I would
say the most is the kids. Um when when I
post doing stuff for the community, because you know, it's

(08:46):
nothing like putting a smile on somebody's face, And I say,
you know, growing up, while I was growing up, I
was blessed to have mentors to be there for me.
But a lot of my friends that I grow with,
a lot of people that I know in the communities
that I grow with, they didn't have mentors to help
with basketball. So that saw I'm always trying to take
the time to help you with the artist shooting. Most importantly,
just to put a smile on their face. So you know,
it's fun, you know, seeing people's numbers go up, you

(09:08):
know as a blessing. You know, training people in the
next year, like Grant Williams, Like I had Grant Williams
last season and he finished like top five in the NBA.
You know, that's a blessing. That's fun. But I feel
like helping the youth is what it's all about and
giving back to the community. Yeah, we'll talk more about that,
because I think you do a tremendous job of using
your fame and your platform and the fact that you're

(09:29):
looked up to by so many kids to give messages
that a way beyond basketball. I definitely want to hear
about that. When you watch you do shoot ball, how
long does it take to say this, this, and this
gotta be better, this needs to be fixed. I'm talking
about people who are already accomplished shooters and maybe aren't
that used to feedback, aren't that used to being told, hey,
you gotta fix this, because they're already making a lot

(09:51):
of money and they're already making shots. Yeah, you know,
when when it comes to those type of players, you
know you have to understand where they come from. You know,
if I was training you and then right after you,
I had to train Grason Island, you guys are two
different people. And that's what that's what we have to
do with trainers. What what I'm saying, Like every every

(10:13):
single person with my training, I don't teach everybody the
same way. So the one thing I do a good
job is once I see somebody do something, I'll say, hey,
you know, hey, Chris Um, when you shoot the basketball,
you love to jump left. What you do love to do,
you know, So the one thing I want you to
do be more cognitive Chris, when you instead of jumping left,
I want you to do this, So I want you

(10:34):
to do that. Then when I see your your learning capacity,
what I do is, if you're a really high volume learner,
I'll attack your mental really really fast with with multiple things.
If I feel like I have to be tactful in
my teaching, I'll give you two small pieces so so
your brain can consume all this. Because the reason why
people muscle memories can change even at the early age,

(10:55):
is not somebody can't do something. It's the way that
somebody teaches them so that brain can understand how to
do something repetitively, and that's why you're really good at
what you do, because when the camera cuts them, you know, okay,
this is this is that, blah blah bah blah. But
a lot of people, if they wasn't taught something the
right way, they can be sloppy in certain areas. And
that's where I can come into place. As soon as
I see somebody shoot, as soon as I see their

(11:16):
learning capacity, as soon as I see their ability to
consume what I'm saying, I know how to strategically attack
their mental So as soon as they wake up in
the morning, they I'm they're they're waking up to my voice,
and that's what I want. I would assume if they
come to you, that's funny they come to you, that
there's a need. They respect you, they know your reputation,
but doesn't mean that they're gonna take to tweaks and

(11:38):
changes what they've done for a long time. So there's
got to be a push pull with these guys who
are so accomplished who you know. I hear you, but
I'm not sure I buy it, And I gotta I
gotta work through it myself and see results. Yeah, I
love that because you know, NBA players are professionals, they
are very arrogant and sometimes and I'll give you a
good example. Um after the Lakers season, me and Danny

(12:01):
Green started. He's one of the best shooters of all time,
and he hired me to help him with the corner three.
And I said, hey, man, these are things I want
to change with the corner three. And he was like,
I don't, I don't. I don't like that. So I said,
let's do this. You shoot twenty your way and then
we'll shoot twenty with my way. And then he did
his way, then my way, and he was like, all right,
I'll stick to your way. So it's more when I

(12:23):
trained certain guys, and I feel that tension a good
Another good example was Bloody Hills as well, when I
had him UH two a year ago as well. We
were in the gym and he was like, I don't
like this. I don't like that, and I said, okay,
you shoot like this and we shoot twenty five my way.
And a good thing about results you allow somebody to
sometimes revert to what they like and then you say,

(12:44):
you know what, do it my way and let's see
what what results are. Higher, and then once they see
that your results are better. You know something, these guys
and women are fools. They're gonna always go with it.
But the one thing and the reason why they're the
best is because they have that eric and attitude, because
they're they're really tough on themselves. And sometimes when you
have clients who have that type of mental I love

(13:07):
it because we're stimulating each other. I don't. I don't
just want to client. When I'm telling them something, they're
not asking questions, they're not feeding and picking my head.
You know. A good example is Grace and I trained
Grayson Island uh last week for about five days. Every
time I trained him, he's picking my head. So why
do you tell me how to do this? What is
that for? And I'll say, hey, this is for that,
this for this, this is fat Oh, I don't know.

(13:29):
And that's the type of people that I'm stimulated by.
And that's why I don't train a lot of people
because a lot of people can't take that type of teaching.
Any great teacher or coach demands that pay attention, giving
me feedback. Do not be like a spectator in your
own education, right, a participant in it and then you,
but you're talking about some guys who are very high level.

(13:50):
You guys are speaking the language in terms of shooting
mechanics and not that many people are familiar with. But
I think that's that's cool. And I've I've heard you
say that as a coach is not affiliated with one team,
you know you're not going to get a team championship ring.
But when you work with the guy and you've helped
him improve his shot and you see him collecting a
ring or collecting a nine figure contract, and you know

(14:14):
you played a role that it's a it's it's a
huge blessing. You know. A good example is I wasn't
able to train him as much this season because I
was with the Bonus so long. But two years ago
I started with Kateavis called with Pope and I was
with him last year and they won the ring two

(14:35):
years ago in the bubble, and it felt like I
want the ring, you know what I mean? Because I
understood how much work he put in. He almost broke
Kobe's three point record playoff record, But people don't understand
how much work he put in. And when he signed,
he just resigned. And it feels good. Of course, like
you're saying, I'm not rich. I'm not getting uh, seventy

(14:56):
five million dollars or fifty million dollars. But to help
other people feed their families and to get generational wealth
and to help somebody reach their full potential, it feels
like fifty million dollars, you know what I mean. And
another good example was is Bobby Porter. It's two years ago.
He hired me. The first year he shot forty seven
percent from three, he was like top three in the NBA.

(15:18):
They wanted the year that I started with with Bobby,
you know what I mean. And and when Bobby won
that ring, seriously, I really mean this, I felt like
I want to ring. I don't need to be there.
I don't need to touch the ring. I don't need
to go to the parties after your team goes out
because I'm not here for them. I'm here to just
be your coach. But like you're saying, that's the whole

(15:38):
part of being a coach, it's about helping others succeed
and push them to a level that they didn't know
they can reach. So it's priceless. I love that, man.
It's it's the process. It's not the spoils that you're
in it for. It's not the glamour and the accolades necessarily.
You know, and the person you've helped knows in a
in a quiet way, what you did for them, and
that I respect that all of this off is a

(16:01):
long way where you were. I want to backtrack now
and get your journey. You know from Saint Bonaventure um
you were going to make the league and that couldn't
have been an easy message. I don't know what you
figured your chances were, but you didn't give up on
basketball and you pursued it around the world. It's one
of the craziest pass I've ever heard of in in
terms of the different places that you played around the

(16:24):
run down the places that that that basketball took you. Man.
I played in Russia, I played in China. I played
in Iceland. I played in Switzerland. I played in Mexico.
I mean, I've played everywhere, but like you're saying, nine
point nine out of tend I've played in Bolivia, I've
played in Peru, I played in Brazil. But every single

(16:47):
place I have a story that is an injury or
something that happened that I thought didn't happen. And I
feel like all of those moments are the reason why
I'm the coach I am today, you know what I mean.
Those those failures, those injuries, those not doing well helped
me become the coach I am today. And that's why
I feel like I'm so good Because I could watch

(17:08):
a client shoot bro right, and if I haven't seen
him in like three weeks, I can tell you if
he formed shooting, he's been working out or not because
I know what I used to do, I know what
I didn't used to do, I know how somebody's concentrats
is supposed to be. And I feel like my path
in life has helped me become the coach I am today.
And that's why I'm always real big on telling people
don't be afraid of your path, you know. Like you

(17:28):
said on my page, I'm always letting people know everybody's
path in life is helping them to get to their
to their main goal, if that makes sense, you know
what I mean. So like, all those places have definitely
molded me, especially Saint Bonaventure. Man Like when I first
got the Saint Bonaventure from Washington State, I was like, Okay,
this is a small town, Like I'm gonna I'm gonna
do what I want to do with this college because

(17:49):
I came from big time Pac ten, you know what
I mean. I got to that school. Man, they were
pushing me so hard mentally, they were pushing me so
hard in the weight room with coach. Coach Schmidt was
in my life. He was just pushing me so uncomfortable,
and I was just like, man, like, this is this
is what I need to do to take it to
the next level. And that's why my senior year, I
was top five UH in the nation and three's made

(18:11):
and I was number one in Atlantic ten and threes
made and number one is shooting percentage. But it wasn't
because of me. It was because my coaches were just
so hard on me. And it's crazy. I still use
those philosophies from like Coach Schmidt and Coach Moore and
and all those guys all my players today because I
know when somebody's putting in the work and when somebody's

(18:31):
not putting the work. And I'll be I don't care
if you're making a hundred ms. If I get in
the gym with you and you're half asking me, I'm
gonna let you know Yeah, you use the word uncomfortable,
which is a word that a lot of people are
not comfortable with, and that's a shame because you can't
grow unless you get uncomfortable. And I think it's beautiful.
You were pushed that way in college and and took
that lesson all those stops Chris along the way. It

(18:52):
can be glamorized, but you talked about sort of like
obstacles and lessons every time. So you know, yeah, you're
meeting players from all over the world, getting exposed a
lot of different types of basketball. You're growing as a
person away from the court. But it's also got to
be lonely. I mean, you're over there, and whether it's
an injury in Peru or something in China, all of

(19:12):
these things are had to be a number of low
points where you thought, man, I don't know, I don't
know where this is going. I don't know if it's
going anywhere. Yeah, but but that's what life's all about,
you know, when you're in that lonely state. I think
I did a good job of always having a plan B,
a plan C, a plan D. It's kind of weird
to me when people say, oh, don't have a plan

(19:32):
b because that means you're already determining failure on plan A. No,
in life, of course, go after plan A, but always
have other options as well, you know what I mean.
And the most successful people they don't just do one thing.
If you look at people like, um, anybody Lebron James,
Lebron James a basketball player, but he's doing filth, he's

(19:52):
doing schools, he's doing stuff in the community. Like, but
that's what life is all about. And all those low
moments like you're saying in China and but live be
a I'm not gonna lie like I wanted to quit,
but I realized this isn't for me, Like like I
said before, this is for all the mentors that sacrifice
for me, all the coaches and my parents that uh
you know sacrifice you know, certain stuff that they wanted

(20:15):
so I can have it. You know. I was the
first person in my family to get a college degree.
So it was like, I'll be letting down so many people,
including myself if if if I if I stopped. So
if anybody's watching this and you are lonely, and you're
and you're you're ready to give up, not saying keep going,
and you get too old and you can't go after
that craft. But always have a plan B. Always have

(20:38):
a plan see and continue to grow. But giving up
is definitely never an option. In between truck going around
the world and persevering and trying to make your way
and then the career have now, I know, there was
some more tough time, so you had to had to
collapse so long you had to deal with I mean,
money was really scarce. I don't know if you knew
where next month's money was to come from. What, what

(21:01):
got you through that and what when you reflect back
on that, do you see it as the depths or
do you just see it as another growing experience? Yeah,
just another growing experience. It was called paul Daria diema.
So like, um, it's just my lungs collapse. I couldn't
move my legs for like a month. I couldn't do
it number two by myself for like three weeks. I

(21:22):
was just my whole body shut down. But the one thing,
like I was saying before, like it's crazy, like I
still wasn't gonna give up, you know what I mean,
And but you're saying that stuff like that's a matter
of fact. You just listed off some stuff that people
would freak people out. You couldn't move your legs for
a month. It's not just routine adversity. Christ you know that, right, Yeah, yeah, no,

(21:44):
for sure. But I think the people that molded me
and my mental for my goal, it would have took
a little bit more for me to like just shut
all the way down. Was I hurt, absolutely, brother, because
I felt like every time I was getting to that,
each of my game, something would happen. Like I remember
when I played in the G League right the D

(22:05):
League at the time, and my coaches told me, hey, man,
you know, don't leave, don't go to Mexico because Blake
Ahearn is gonna get a call up. And I was
just I'm like, no, I'm leaving. I'm gonna I'm going
to Mexico play because I need the money. As soon
as I go to Mexico, Blake a Hearn get the
call up. But that was the lessons that I learned.
You gotta be patient when you want greatness, if that

(22:25):
makes sense. So I literally used every situation of my
life for the next step. When when I used to
get hurt, I didn't think of like, oh man, no,
I'm like you know what. I fractured my ankle or
I I sprained my knee or something now and I
gotta go harder now and I gotta stay focused. I mean,
how bad I want greatness, God would have to take me,
if that makes sense, So it's not too much. I

(22:47):
have it on film too. I got poked in the
eye and NBL Canada. I couldn't played for two months.
I was blind for a week and a half. I
was messed up, bro, Like it was like the worst
pounding headache in my in my head. But I was like, bro,
if I gotta shoot one eye, it is with it.
Like that's how determined I was to continue to go.
You got people listen to this right now thinking yeah.

(23:09):
I mean people are listening right now thinking I think
I've got some resolve. I'm resilient, but I don't know
describing what you're describing. I don't know how I would
do in that situation. I mean, everybody, I guess you
don't know your own strength until your force to sort
of find it and midst all that stuff. Absolutely, and

(23:30):
and the good thing about that, Chris, all of us
has that in all of us have that in us.
But it's just you, You, not not somebody else. Somebody
can mentor you, somebody can help you. But as you
continue to take that step in the right direction, as
you've been consistent in your craft, is you going to
sleep on time? Is you waking up early? And is

(23:51):
you understanding that nobody can stop you but yourself? So,
like you know, all of us have greatness in this
is Is everybody gonna be famous, everybody's gonna have the
big house and hidden hills. No, but if you know
you gave it all, you're all Chris and and and
and even if you don't get to the top of
the mountain, you know you gave it draw you'll sleep
better at night. Powerful man. Hey, So you begin to

(24:15):
work with coaches, broke with players. As a coach, you
got being famous clients. Is White Howard a guy that
sort of like comes to mind, and and he's he's
kind of listed as money one of your first, you know,
big time clients where you gotta taste of what it
might be like to to to coach shooting at that level. Yeah.
At the time, Um, what happened was I was with

(24:35):
Kevin Seraphan in Paris for UH for the summer and
the White hit me up and saying, hey, man, I
need you to help me with my free throws. And
then um when he when I was helping with his
free throws, he started breaking so many records that year.
You give what I mean he was, he was breaking
so many records. But at the time, I wasn't looking

(24:56):
at us like, oh man, what the White Howard. I
was just looking at it. Bro I'm hungry, Like I'm
not like you get real coming from I'm trying to
I'm trying to be successful, if that makes sense. So
when I was with the White, I wasn't really looking
at It's like, oh my gosh, what the White Howard.
But it started hitting me like we went to Vegas,
we were He's the I went to China with him
on the Peak tour. Then I saw like all this,

(25:17):
you know how everybody was with him. I'm like, man,
it's of course I know I played the same class
as the White. If I played against him, ay you,
But I never had a big time client didn't start
hitting me like man, like wow, like I'm training Dwight Howard.
And that's when I started like realizing, like all right,
now I gotta take it to the next level, like

(25:37):
I take it to the next level. Then I started
helping other teams, and then you know, God is good
and I look at me now you know what I mean.
So it's just, you know, it's just it's hard to explain.
It's just it's it's a blessing. Man. Yeah, you never
know from day to day. I guess who's gonna who's
gonna cross your past, know who you are, whether it's
a celebrity, whether it's what Martin Lawrence. I mean, different

(25:58):
guys who have meant something to you, have come to
you and said, hey, I'm not in the league, but
I want to shoot better. Can you help me? I
know you take it deadly serious, but that's gotta be
fun too, man, It's so fun, you know what I mean.
Of course, when i'm training, I'm I'm kind of serious.
But when when all that said and done, I'm having
great conversations with them, I'm laughing like they're saying, I

(26:19):
was blessed to train Martin about a month ago. Two
weeks ago, I trained Mark Cuban. I'm able to train
people like Drake and um I'm about to do something
with p Diddy next week. So it's just like I
never thought, you know, being I've always knew because the
way my dad, you know, speak life into me when

(26:39):
I was younger, but I never threw it. I never
knew it to get this big and for it to
continue to go where it's going right now. I'm very
humble and um, it's just a blessing that people of
that stature, even people like you, want me just just
just talk to me, you know what I mean. So
I definitely don't take this lightly. So just to have
those type of people reach out to say, hey, man,
like I've been watching you bro, like like, let's let's

(27:00):
get some shots up. I'm like, all right, it sounds
good to me, man, let's let's let's get some shots up.
So I want your coach, Mark Cuban, and here he
is owning your team with the elite players. I mean, yeah, yeah,
is he hooper? Mark Cuban is a little crazy. So
we uh, we were supposed to train for forty five minutes,
but he's so locked in and he's so hungry to

(27:23):
be great. We trained for like two hours and fifty minutes,
and I kind of knew he was a little crazy
when he started doing stuff that I do so like
he would miss a shot and he'll have certain emotions.
I was like, this guy has the tick that I have,
or I have the tick he has because he's older
than me. And that's when I started really getting into
a train and I saying I love training people like this.

(27:44):
So I stopped pushing them and pushing his mental and
I was like, all right, Mark, take a water break
and Marcus, I don't want the water man. You we
we got we gotta work. I'm like, it's eleven o'clock
at night, but let's start realizing. This is why people
like like Mark Cuban are the best. This is why
he has the dry he has because if he's gonna
learn something, he's not gonna havelf acid. And I would
say training him was probably one of the best moments

(28:06):
of my life because I'm a huge fan of what
Mark stands for, and most importantly, to have somebody like
him to just want to be around me and shoot
a basketball. Brother, It's just I never thought my life
would be be where it is right now, So definitely
shout out to Mark Cuban. He text me the next
day and like six in the morning, it was like, man,
I can't stop thinking about what you told me what

(28:27):
to do my feet. And I said, hey, man, that's
how the type of this type of teacher I had
to give you because you're he was forcing me to
teach him like he was Luca. So I was like,
all right, man, I'm coming at you. You gotta be ready,
and he was. He was taking it in and he
didn't quit. Man, he's a he's a hard nosed guy. Man.
I love his vibes. Yeah, I've crossed paths a little bit.
That does not surprise me your story, because that's why

(28:47):
he is where he is, because he brings that kind
of energy and intensity probably everything that he does. What
about the other actors and rappers, So they are they
all universally like driven that way or some of them
just want to have a good time. And you got
you gotta like y off of that. And and I
know absolutely, like I'll say nine out of ten are
always what Mark is on. I say, a person that's

(29:10):
a little a little crazy as well as I trained
Fleet from Red Hot Chili Peppers. And when I when
I trained him, I have to train him like he's
Bobby Porters. I got to train him like he's a
bonus because he's looking to get pushed to the basket
and he's looking to not like he wants that stimulation.
And when we first started training and he would do that,
I was like, is this guy really serious? Then I

(29:31):
realized this is why he's the best of what he
does as well, And then I started realizing, like to
train these type of people, it's a blessing, you know
what I mean. They're not NBA players and not WBA players,
but I still have to come with them like an
NBA player or w NBA player because they are successful
in their field, if that makes sense. So when I
when I when I trained Fleet, he's just so hungry

(29:52):
to learn. He's just so hungry to get better. And
he's so energetic. Brother, Like, there's no way gettinghim tired.
So I try to make him sprint, I try to
make him do stuff. He's still just he wants to
keep going. Man. So definitely shout out to my guy
Flee as well, him and and Drake Man Drake Um.
About three weeks ago, Drake was in l A before
Mark Cuban trained and we went over some stuff and
then the next day I think he flew to New

(30:13):
York and shot the pill out of the ball. But
those type of guys, man, it's just it's it's a
blessing to help them. I'm a Chili Peppers fan and
even seeing one of their shows, know that Flee has
got a lot of energy, that those are great stories.
I appreciate that. Well. When you get people like Mark
Cuban and other players as well, I know the invitations
that come along Chris, to hey, come join our team,

(30:34):
be exclusive to us, be a part of our organization,
and you've resisted that you haven't taken what some would
say is kind of an obvious path. Yeah. You know,
when I first started, I'm not gonna lie, you know,
saying Chris, like I really wanted to be a shooting
coach on the team, Like I was hungry. Like then
I started realizing, like I didn't know all this was

(30:55):
gonna come with what I was doing with my business,
Like you know, I'm doing speaking Rances, I'm I just
came back from Egypt, Chris, two weeks ago, I'm I'm
doing something for speaking at Harvard. And then just two
days ago, Chris, I was at Howard University helping them
do something. So it's just like you know, I never

(31:16):
knew that God was going to have this big plan
for my life. And if I was to take a job,
I wouldn't I feel like I wouldn't be doing my
due diligence on earth to to reach as many people
as I can reach if I was just on the staff.
So definitely shout out to all the teams that have
offered me to be on the teams in college and
UM in the NBA and UM n B A, uh,

(31:38):
to be a part of staffs. But you know, just
just doing what I'm doing right now, and I think
I think it's God's plan. I do think once I
foundation is set with everything I'm doing, uh with with
my businesses and stuff, I think I really want to
be on the staff because I wanted, like you're saying,
I want to I want to win a championship ring. Well,
that's you're gonna have all kinds of options. I mean, basketball,

(32:00):
to see is global, but yeah, they'm more global than
basketball is shooting a basketball because you don't have to
be part of an organized team. You don't have to
have a full you know, people with the ball and
a rim at all corners of the globe, and and
and it's cool. I know you were just in need
in Egypt shooting jumpers like right by the base of
the Pyramids, which I don't think it'd been done before,

(32:21):
which is cool. So, yeah, there's a whole wide world
of opportunities out there that I'm sure you're just scratching
the surface of. Yeah, an office shure, man, it's definitely
definitely all guys playing. And you know when when uh,
you know, when Ray Bull came to me with being
the first person to ever to shoot in front of
the Pyramids, I didn't think it was real, you know

(32:41):
what I mean. So we pulled up, Uh it was
about you know, three weeks ago. We pulled up before
in the morning. It was dark and I saw the Pyramids.
Bro like took my heart. I was like, whoa, this
is this is crazy, man. So, you know, just to
just to have companies, just to have people want me
to be a part of moments like that, brother's just
a testament that, like, you know, everybody's not gonna make
it to the NBA, everybody's not gonna make it on ESPN,

(33:03):
and everybody's not gonna make it to the w n
B A. But if you stay creative, if you stay
diligent in your craft. You know, those spaces will make
room for you, if that makes sense, you know what
I mean, Like I'm not in the n b A,
but that I'm still involved with doing stuff but in
the n b A. Like, so whoever is watching this,
you know, if if if you want to become a
lawyer and it didn't work, stay diligent in your craft.

(33:24):
You know you can still find yourself doing something in
that field. It's still become successful. You're not in the NBA,
but you're an NBA two K, which is uh almost
as cool. Yeah, now it's a blessing. Man, It's I
don't know when this comes out. I don't know if
I could talk to what I want to talk, but
you know, definitely everybody stay tuned, man. And in about
three weeks we got a huge announcement. Man, it's just

(33:45):
these type of things. Like I said before, Chris Man,
I never have, I never, I never, but my dad knew.
Like you know, my dad passed like twelve years ago,
and and he will always tell me, you know, what
he thought I was gonna be in life. You know,
if your dad, I hear you, Dad, Yeah, whatever. But
now it's just like, you know, him just speaking into
my life now, and I see why he was so

(34:06):
hard on me and why he was making sure I
was doing my homework, and why certain times I couldn't
go outside and different things I couldn't do at a
young age. But he was doing that, so I can
understand what it takes to be a man. I know
what that's like. I lost my dad when I was
a kid. You don't have that relationship with him as
an adult. He doesn't get to see what you go
and do, but you feel a presence and it still

(34:29):
drives you. In those words and the example that he said,
I think that's that's powerful. Shooting a basketball is obviously
part of the game. You must have heard this, Chris.
You're teaching people to shoot shoot you, but that's not
the complete game. And your kids can't believe that you're
shooting the ball is going to be a ticket to success. Yeah.

(34:51):
I feel like a lot of people see my page
just say, oh, you know, you're just teaching threes. But
people don't understand that's just the glamour of Instagram, you
know what I mean? When I like, a good example
is me and Grayson just did a post yesterday, Grayson
Islands pulling like one step across half court. But that
was like a dessert for Grayson, you know what I mean.
You know, take this dessert because I just made you

(35:11):
make four hundred mere range jump shots. So you know,
you know, people think the artist shooting is just shooting
so far, but people don't understand about my teaching and
my philosophy. I don't even allow my clients to shoot far,
you know what I mean. And it's just like in life,
how can you do certain things and start far? You
have to start close and and if you want to

(35:33):
train with me and and get out to the three
point line, you gotta show me that the philosophies that
I'm giving you and the mental that I'm expecting from you,
that you deserve to go to the three point line.
And I feel like, you know, God is good that
I was taught a certain way and I was able
to shoot in certain ways. So I know what I'm
looking for, and I could be I could be very
meticulous on just the type of concentration that I'm looking for.

(35:56):
Then I can say, you know what, Chris, you or
you know what's a bonus? Now you can step out
to the three point line. So like, you know, people
might see my training. It was crazy because like people
might see me training somebody, but oh, that person is
not really shooting the three. Good Yeah, because the team
didn't hire me to be there, to hire me to
have them shoot three. The team hired me from midrange
jump shots. So it's certain things that people do don't understand,

(36:20):
but they just see on Instagram and think when it
comes with somebody hires me, I'm turning them into Clay Thompson.
You get what I'm saying. Yeah, you're you're a good sport.
To look at a couple of videos as set you
because I thought we could have a stunt. You know,
I I I gave you uh an at on Instagram
when I was really struggling because I was I was
shooting outdoors. I'm not. I'm not a hasman. I'm never was.

(36:42):
When it came to if I never played competitive. My
career pretty much ended when I shredded my knee playing
intermural basketball in college and you know, four knee surgeries later. Um,
you know, I'm I'm working to touch the rim. But
you took a look at a video. I didn't send
you videos where I'm breaking shots. I mean it's heavily ended.
But uh, if you were to get something like that
totally amateur, what what would the critique be? Well, a

(37:04):
good thing about your shot. You're not a bad shooter,
you know, I would say I could tell you you
could be a little bit more calm. I don't know
if you have a head Did you have headsets in? Yeah?
Definitely definitely don't shoot with your air buds in because
you you want to. You want to hear the sounds
of the ground. You want to feel the air. You

(37:25):
want to be able to breathe and and feel the game.
You're not gonna go on the golf course Chris and
put air buds and try to hit a hole in one.
You know what I'm saying. Um, I would say, uh,
I love your your your follow through, your fall through
is beautiful, your guy hand. I think I think there
was something wrong with the reception there. I'm not sure.

(37:47):
Repeat repeat that, Chris, No, you're you got your file.
Your fall through is beautiful. But there's when I when
I when I get to New York or something, I
gotta come see there's things that we're gonna change with
your guy hand. That and um, your footwork and the
way you jump, We're gonna change that to make the
shot fluent. Because you're not far off. Brother, I say,

(38:08):
out of a ten, I'm not saying this because I'm
on your podcasts. No, seriously, I'm not trying to say
your Steph Curry. I'm not trying to say you can
make a hundred three in a row. But if I'm
going off form somebody who hasn't been taught the right way,
out of a ten, I'll give you a six, bro,
I'll take a six. I was like I was at
two at the start of the summer. I went into
the gym and it's at sixty shot an hour a day.

(38:33):
And by the way, in the earbuds is is like
zen meditation. I'm not listening to music sometimes just to
block out the screaming kids in the gym that I
don't know, but it helps me focus because it's just
like different like tones and chanting and stuff. I'm not
listening to my my my heavy metal workout playlist, but
I'm trying to shoot a Basketballn't worry about that. I'll

(38:54):
take it, you know, I listen. I got no kind
of game, but I do like the meta tative experience.
I'm just being in the gym. Hopefully it's kind of
chilling and just shooting the ball. I'm sure. I'm sure
a lot of your people you work with can relate
to that. It can be a happy place, even if
you're no kind of hooper and you know you're not
even consistent, but just the act of doing it, I

(39:14):
find therapeutic. So you're generously it's definitely stimulating, brother. And
like you're saying about the celebrities, right, so like let's
do a future. The times that I training future, it's
because you know, sometimes they might be in the studio
too long. And the basketball court is that, like you said,
it's therapeutic, and it's relaxing to the mind so that

(39:35):
you know everybody is watching this. If you know, some
people like to go swimming, and some people like to
go for walks, you know, like you're saying, go to
the local park and get some jump shots up um
and and it it definitely relaxes and a good thing
about it, Like you know, Chris, your blood flowing, you
get what I mean, And and your body's moving and
and your limbs are moving. So that's that's good because
when I was watching those three videos you sent me,

(39:57):
I could tell you're you're in the place that you
you're not gonna get distracted. I could tell how you
were shooting. It's just you the room. I think one
of the videos you sent me was people behind you
shoot on the other side. You don't even care about them.
But that just shows how focused you are to use
this time to just take your mental to the next level.
So that was those some good videos. I like them. Well,

(40:19):
you're being really nice, you're being over I could do one.
I could focus because I didn't know you, I would
tell you because focusing is what I gotta do from
my job, so I focus on on a thing. Isn't
the issue. It's just it's just lack of athleticism and mechanics.
But like I said, yeah, you're you're you're very very generous.
When when you when you watch a game, do you
watch just basketball like other people? Are you always watching

(40:41):
like shooting form? Like the NBA is just getting started here?
Are you gonna be tuning into games to see what
guys have been doing in the summer? Is that? Is
that the way that you view a game through that?
Lens Man absolutely and it sucks, you know, Man, I
can't even watch the game. Yeah, I can't even just
watch the game hang out with the homies like I'm
like because the one thing I understood, understand I like

(41:01):
to Let's let's say, let's say Chris, you played for
the Nets right when if you used to hit me
and say hey, man, I need your help. I want
to instantly say you know what. I already know what
you was doing wrong? You was And that's what I
do to everybody. So if you ask anybody that train
with me before, as soon as I get with them, um,
I'll tell them every spot where something of this spot
and that spot and they're like, oh damn, that is happy. Yeah,

(41:24):
I know. I've been watching. I've been taking notes, you know.
I have a little notepad and stuff like that. Until
you gotta you got a catalog of everybody in the league,
Like you know, guys that have never called, you've never
you still know like the ins and outs of their
shottle know, it's a red note pad. Um. I wouldn't
say every single person, but definitely the top tier and
the people that we say can't shoot. I know I

(41:48):
have exactly what what needs to be done. To fix
those jump shots because the one thing I understand too,
and you understand, I can't get a phone call from
somebody saying, hey, we need you to help with the
artist shooting. What is this person doing? And I'm not prepared.
I'm always prepared, you know. And and a good example,
like I said, I'll use Grant Williams. When Grant Williams
called me and saying, bro, what you see out there?

(42:10):
I said, And then he was like that is wrong,
So I said it, look, spend the summer with me, brother,
And when he spent the song with me, you know
the results, the results have shown. And it's just like,
you know, I'm one of those guys like you know,
I don't I don't want something to happen, and then
I and then I go after I want to I
want to be prepared for the moment. And that's that's
just the way I was molded. So you know, just
like tonight, it's like, you know, when when the Celtics

(42:32):
are playing, I'm gonna be taking notes not just on
people that I've helped, but I'll be taking notes on
everybody because I'm just I don't know how you are
when you watch other people uh, do TV shows or
something like that. But I know you noticed everything. You
get what I'm saying absolutely. I mean, no one wants
to watch a game with another announcer and I with
your buddies. You must be a pain in the ask
to watching the NBA game. Yeah, it's the worst. Let

(42:57):
me ask you this because whatever the sport is, you've
got guys who are really successful and productive. They don't
have perfect form. Not every quarterback throws of all the
same way Mahomes doesn't have classic form. I covered tennis.
Even legends of the game don't hit shots perfectly. Do
you see guys in the NBA who make shots but
they don't look good doing that and the form is

(43:17):
not good? And can you live with that? I absolutely can.
You know, if you have a high shooting percentage and
you can go left with the defender on, you go right,
step back, left, step back, right side step left side,
step right, pull up in transition, make a mid range
jump shot, run full speed to a spot and pull up.
And you don't have an ideal form, keep it. But

(43:38):
if you have. If you don't have the ideal form
and you can't do those things, you have to change
your jump shot real live bit in an era where
people are delusional, um to two bad things. If you
have a bad habit and it's not working, change it.
If you have a bad habit, Uh, when I say habit,
I mean like not the ideal Clay Thompson form. So
let's say that not a bad if you don't have

(44:00):
If you have a bad hat it and it's and
it's at working, you have to change it, you know
what I mean. You can't say, Chris, I'm a bad
announcer because uh what what what do we give people
excuses for shooting? We say, um, oh, it's it's it's mental.
I can't say I'm a bad announcer because I'm having
a mental block. That means I'm not a good announcer, right,
So that means I have to figure out how to

(44:21):
fix those things. So I feel like with anybody out
there that's doing anything in life, you know what I mean.
If you feel like you can't do something because of
your mental you gotta start stimulating yourself in that crab
so when your moment comes, you can attack it. If
that makes sense, like you, I don't know if you
do it, but like, like I hosted something for Netflix
for Adam Sandler and Lebron about two months back. Bro

(44:43):
I stood in front of the mirror and was like,
what's going on, Lebron? How does it? I literally did
all the questions that Netflix sent me looking in the mirror,
and then when when I went to the red carpet,
bro it was like my swag was crazy. But it
took so much practice. And I think a lot of
people have to understand if you really on something, it
just takes a lot of practice, and it's not just mental.
Is you being diligent and consistent on your craft? Because

(45:06):
if you're consistent, your mental is gonna be high because
you're confident. Why am I not surprised? You still in
the mirror and rehearse your part with to be ready
for that because you don't think that would acre to
a lot of people. But I mean that's that's why,
that's why you're where you are. That's cool. You know
the question will come up. I'm sure you get it,

(45:27):
like who do you rank as Maybe not on percentage,
but who's got the Swedish shot? Who's got the best
current shots in the NBA? Are you allowed to say that? Yeah?
I don't care. Yeah, I think the best shooter of
all time, you know, Um, you know, I give it
to myself. Man, I put a lot of works right now,

(45:49):
but all I think Steph Curry has just I feel
like if it wasn't for Steph Curry, I don't even
think people will understand how crazy I am about shooting.
You know. Of course, Clay Thompson is a great shoot.
Of course, Trey Young, Kevin Durrant, Everybody's made. But I
feel like if Steph Curry wasn't doing when he was

(46:10):
doing the videos I post, people wouldn't realize how hard
they are. And I feel like Steph Curry has taken
the artist shooting to such a level where it's like,
man like, how do you even do this? So definitely
shout out to my guys Steph Curry, um, and continue
to just break barriers man, because what he's doing with
that basketball, man, it's different. Yeah, he's a transcendent player.

(46:32):
He's changed the way basketball has played. He's changed the
way that thought about it. Not everybody can shoot like
nobody can quite shoot like him, but everybody thinks that's
now the way to play, which may not may or
may not be a good thing. It puts. It puts
a lot of you know, work your way because everybody
needs to improve the well. I definitely want the NBA

(46:53):
to staying in this direction for a few more years.
Make a few hours. Bro. So you have used your
your Instagram not just to show your shooting exploits, are
working with clients. But I love the messages you send
and your stories daily talk about hard work and sacrifice
and self esteem and things that you know young followers

(47:16):
are yours can absorb. Yeah, man, you know, I feel
like if you have a big platform, it's your job
to let people know the truth. You know what I mean.
People might see my page man luth so successful. Man,
I'm trying to be like lethal. Yeah, you can be
like me. But when you fail, keep your head high.
When you fail, keep going. When you feel, um, understand

(47:39):
that there is something else. You know what I mean? Um, Um,
don't allow social media to pull you down, you know,
use social media to uplift others. Um, you know, listen
to your parents, you know what I'm saying. Listen to
whoever your caregiver is. Stay away from drugs, stay away
from alcohol. And I try to use my platform for that.

(48:00):
Has a lot of people don't get that at home, Chris.
So it's more like I'm just trying to just use
my platform to keep people educated on the real as
well as far as the sport. So if I can
continue to inspire people with shooting, maybe I can inspire
somebody to not to turn down drugs or turned down
alcohol or not continue to just hang on the block

(48:20):
and go after it goes. So that's why I feel
like God put me here. I feel like you put
me here to not just help people with the artist shooting,
but help people in life because I understand how tough
life is, because because the route that I had to
take absolutely Man, And as your brand grows and the
number of followers grows, the platform even gets bigger. So

(48:41):
when when you look at head, because as I said
at the top, there is no blueprint for what you've done,
there is no plan, there's no linear path where you're going,
and and if you look forward, there is neither. So
where where does this take you? Are? You? Are you
still hoisting jump shots when you're I don't know sixty
beyond that and what else you're gonna be? You know,
using sort of this this platform skill set with Man,

(49:04):
same thing man, I just pray, you know, like you're
saying sixty years old, the way you're moving to the
videos you sent me, for you to be sixty, for
Mark to be the age he's at. If I'm moving
like that, I'm good, bro. You know what I mean.
I want to I want to do it as long
as you know, God says, you know what, keep shooting
at basketball, you know what I mean. Do I want
to be uh teaching the artist shooting at sixty? Absolutely not.

(49:29):
You know, I feel like at sixty, I might want
to be doing what you're doing, you know, on T
and T or something, or just maybe doing something different
in my craft. But you know, that's a long time
from now. But I can see myself trying to take
a turn in that area. And that's why, you know,
I love watching people like you. I love watching like
you said, Dorisburg. I love watching Shaquille O'Neill and different

(49:52):
people on TV. Because you guys don't get in up credit.
That's a hard job. But you know, watching you guys
and watching stephen A, I really can see myself doing
that as well. If I don't take that coaching job,
like I really want to take that turn and and
just I could talk all day about basketball, I could
talk all day about life. So I definitely want to
try to take that turn as well. Yeah, I think

(50:14):
that there are no limits because if you take the lessons,
you've already applied everything else in your life, just being
tough and resilient and and never quitting and using everything
as an opportunity for growth. Um, there's no where you
can't go. And I think it's I want to leave
with this because, um, you said that you hear your
dad's voice, and I think that it must be pretty

(50:36):
cool when you ally yourself to think about how he
would view what you've become. And it's it's just an
incredible It's a long long way from where you grew up,
in a long long way from not having a place
to stay not that many years ago to our your
out armed moum. And that's got that's powerful stuff. Absolutely, man.
Like you said, brother, like, this ain't for me, This

(50:59):
is forever everybody that sacrifice for me, especially my mom
as well. You know what I mean a lot of
people don't know. I didn't grow up with my biological parents.
So for me to be right I am today is
just a testament that that God had a plan for me,
and I'm not about to let him down. I'm not
about to let my dad down. I'm not about to
let my mom down, because like you're saying, like this,
this this is for them, every every every time I

(51:20):
wake up and do something, it's everybody that believed in me.
I'm doing this for the I'm doing this for everybody
that comes from them tough situations that they want to
give up. I'm doing it for for everybody that you know,
nothing was given to him, they had, They had to work,
you know, work their asses off to get where they at.
So you know, I'm gonna continue to do what I do,
just like how you do what you do. You know,
when I'll be watching you, you could tell you study

(51:42):
your notes, you can tell your diligence, your craft. But
they don't just come by you just waking up, jump
on TV. You know what I mean. It's just it's
a lot of hard work that goes into it. And
I'm willing to put the hard work, to put the
hard work in to continue to show how great of
a teacher I am, how great of a mentor I am,
and just basically just you know, let my followers, No,
I got their back. I really enjoyed getting to know

(52:04):
Chris a little bit. What impresses me is that he
never forgets his DC roots. He gives back in so
many ways, or mentoring kids in his clinics, working with
companies to renovate courts and deliver backpacks, and even thanksgiving
turkeys to families, and he's just getting started. If you
haven't already, check out his Instagram at Lethal Shooter. He'll
be blown away by his shooting demos, plus fun stuff

(52:28):
with the players and celebritities, coaching, and plenty of reminders
to stay locked in on whatever path you're forging. As always,
I'm grateful to my co executive producer Jennifer Dempster and
the team Octagon for editing the podcast. I'll talk to
you soon. But more new episodes of season five, and
please check out our many archived episodes