NBA 2K24: Interview With NBA Skills Coach Chris "Lethal Shooter" Matthews

NBA 2K24 has put more focus on basketball in MyCareer as the series steers away from the non-basketball related quests from the last couple of installments. In NBA 2K23, NBA skills coach Chris Brickley made his appearance, allowing MyPlayers to step into his gym and take part in scrimmages.

In NBA 2K24 another NBA skills coach, Chris Matthews AKA the Lethal Shooter, makes his debut. Just like with Brickley, you can go to Coach Matthews’ gym where you can work specifically on your shooting skills and eventually unlock a brand new hot zone called the “Lethal Hot Zone” that is colored in purple.

If you aren’t familiar with Lethal Shooter, Kevin Durant has called him one of the best shooters ever in the sport of basketball so the nickname makes perfect sense. Also, his Instagram page, which features a large audience of over one million followers, features him knocking down incredible trick shots as well.

We had a chance to chat with Chris about being in 2K, playing high school ball with Kevin Durant, playing professionally overseas, and more. Chris was great to talk to and we really appreciate his time.

Colin: How’s it feel to be in NBA 2K24 for the 25th anniversary?

Chris: Man, it’s a situation where, you know, I never put on the NBA jersey. I’ve never been on an NBA court playing on TV, so it’s something where if somebody would have told me this stuff seven, eight years ago, I would have thought they were lying to me, but it’s just another definition of somebody that didn’t give up because when you don’t give up, you start to understand what your life is really meant to be.

Colin: And to go along with that, how’s it feel to be in 2K with Kobe Bryant on the cover?

Chris: Yeah, to have him on a cover is amazing because I look at him like Michael Jordan. I look at him like numerous people that I look up to, like Muhammad Ali. So to be in a video game with Kobe on a cover is another dream come true, because he’s somebody that I looked up to. He has the Mamba Mentality and I have to stay locked in mentality, but both of those mentalities go together. So Kobe’s one of the people where he didn’t just talk about it. He did it. So to be a part of something like this, I mean, that makes it more of a historic moment for me that I could probably tell my grandkids in a few years. Your grandfather was in a video game that Kobe Bryant was on the cover of. That’s a huge moment.

Colin: You were working with 2K, you got to do mo-cap. What was that experience like?

Chris: Man, it was absolutely insane, bro. NBA 2K actually posted on their platforms [some of my session] and that was actually like my third time ever doing a mo-cap, you know, and to go into that place, you can’t have your phone — just like going into like the FBI or something, you know what I mean? It’s certain stuff that they don’t allow certain people to do.

So for them to show the behind the scenes of me practicing mo-cap and doing that type of stuff that I was needing to record for MP and all that type of stuff behind the scenes. It was pretty cool because they normally don’t show those behind the scenes for influencers. So for them to show that side of me coming into their facility in the Bay. It was pretty sick.

Colin: So you talked about, you know, having your own hot zone, the lethal hot zone. So how does that feel? Because the hot zones, that’s been an iconic thing in 2K since the beginning of the series pretty much. So how does it feel to have your own hot zone in 2K?

Chris: Well, the one thing that people like about me is my shooting. You know, a lot of people say they want to shoot like lethal shooter. So to have my own lethal hat zone in a video game, it’s a dream come true as well because so many people want to shoot like me.

At first, I thought they was just talking crazy. But now to see it out there and to see different people posting on TikTok and to see different people posting on Instagram and Facebook — seeing stuff like their shooting percentage is getting better because they’re practicing in the Art of Shooting arena and they’re getting their lethal shots better. I mean, come on. Like it’s one of those moments as a basketball player, especially for somebody that didn’t make it to the NBA, it’s farfetched because you’ll never think it’s going to happen. But you never know what the universe and God has planned for you if you just continue to keep pushing.

Colin: So I definitely want to ask you some things about your career. You played with Kevin Durant in high school. What was it like playing with KD, having him as a teammate, and how were you guys able to click out on the court?

Chris: Yeah, playing with Kevin Durant was pretty amazing because back then all of us knew he was going to be a special player. Did we think he was going to be a player he is today? You know, when we’re that young, we weren’t thinking that ahead. So I’ll say no, but back then we always knew he was going to be an NBA player. We always knew he was going to be a Hall of Famer. But what he’s doing right now — and it’s not by accident — because back then he was always putting in the work.

He never backed down from anybody. He always put the team on his back and still to this day because of that our high school team, which we went 27 and 3, we have the best high school record in our school’s history still to this day. The team that we were on, I have numerous games and box scores where Kevin hit six threes and I had five threes. KD got 30, I got 26. We were always neck and neck because we were great shooters and we understood our role on the team because we were playing along great players like Patrick Union Jr., Chris Cole, Brian Inge, Abdullah Jalo and on it goes.

So they were making our job easier because Coach Brown had a great system for Kevin because he was our number one option by the middle of the season. Once we saw, realized how great he was after the beginning of the season — you know, he was just this frail young player that we knew was great, but we didn’t know if he could carry the load.

But starting in the middle of the season, Kevin Durant was our first option. And back then he was only in the ninth grade. I was in 11th grade. And he was our first option by the middle of the season because of how great his footwork was, how great his touch was. So to see what he’s doing today — I just was with him recently in Oregon for Nike — I’m happy for him and his family, man. He deserves it.

Colin: Now, I know that shooting wasn’t KD’s major point back then necessarily like how it is now. But did you guys ever have any kind of any kind of shooting competition, whether it’s, not just high school, but in the future because you guys are both great shooters.

Chris: So yeah, we’ve never had a shooting competition. But back then, in high school, we all would be shooting one side versus the other side. But back then we weren’t thinking like that. You know, I wasn’t Lethal Shooter. I was just Chris to him, and he was just Kevin KD to me. So it wasn’t like we were there competing to be the best shooter. And as far as shooting against each other right now, no, we haven’t done that because I feel like, you know, that’s a lot of people online where they’re like, you know, they want to shoot against Kevin Durant to see who’s better, shoot against him, shoot me and him. I don’t think we look at each other to see who’s the better shooter in between us. You know what I mean?

But like I was saying, to be considered one of the best shooters in the world with Kevin Durant. This isn’t by surprise, you know, back then KD was one of the best shooters ever in the DMV area. And back then I was ranked top three in the area and shooting guards in the area. So to be where we are right now is just consistency, bro. We’re both in our 30s and we’re both still consistent in the gym. So the good thing about wine or different things that only get finer and better. So you stay consistent with your craft. It’s only going to look more beautiful. So that’s what’s going on right now.

Colin: Yeah, and I know you guys are friends too, but I did see a quote where he did basically say you are one of the best shooters ever and that was on Instagram. So how’s it feel to hear that from him and get that quote from him like that?

Chris: Yeah, well to hear different NBA players and different celebrities say I’m one of the best shooters is pretty cool, but to hear it from a peer that you grew up with, it feels a little bit better because he’s seen me do it in game. He’s seen me do it under pressure. He’s seen me do these things where we’re shooting against people that we didn’t like on the other team and they were our rivals. You know, a lot of people see a lot of my stuff on social media and they think I’m just a content creator, but they don’t know that from the ninth grade to the 12th grade, I was always ranked top five in the entire Merlin rankings and Merlin is about 400 high schools.

So that tells you that’s 400 shooting guards, and out of 400 shooting guards I was always ranked top three. So that tells you something about my shooting. So, you know, to have him say that it feels a lot better because he’s one of my peers and one of my friends that I grew up with. I mean, I look up to that guy, what he’s doing and I respect what he’s doing, especially what he’s building for himself and the community.

Colin: Let’s go the to the college side real quick. What are some of your your favorite memories from being at St. Bonaventure and at Washington State in your college career?

Chris: I say my biggest moment at Washington State was going to a program that was last in the Pac-10 and coach Tony telling me that we’re gonna turn this program program around that next year. We went all the way up to top 10 in the nation. They only won like eight games prior to that year, and we go on to win 20-plus games We went on to finish top three in the Pac-10, so that was one of my biggest moments playing for Tony Bennett.

The same [general] thing happened at St. Bonaventure after I had to sit out the first year. The next year when I played, we finished like top six in the Atlantic 10 [after being in last not long before that]. Then my senior year, we finished like top five. And then a year after I left, they go to the NCAA tournament. So just to help programs get on their feet is a great feeling. And of course I broke numerous three-point records at St. Bonaventure because my coach, Mark Schmidt, he believed in me. He believed in me as a player and he always pushed me to be great as a shooter. And he pushed me to be uncomfortable — to work on my craft outside of practice. So that’s why those are my biggest moments.

I’ll also say my biggest rivalry in college for Washington State, our biggest rivalry was UW. I remember the first game that I went against Brandon Roy. You know, Brandon Roy is considered — if he wouldn’t have gotten hurt, he would have been considered the next Kobe I think.

So I remember when I saw Brandon Roy in person, I’m like, dang, this guy’s really chiseled. He has bounce. He’s this, he’s that. So to be a part of those type of rivalries, it was a blessing because it molded me, not just as a young man, but to turn me into a man, because these programs really took those rivalries seriously.

Colin: It’s funny that you mentioned B-Roy because Shaq had actually compared Devin Booker’s game to B-Roy. So since you played played against B-Roy, what do you think of a guy like Devin Booker and his game?

Chris: He does remind me of Brandon Roy. I don’t want to be wrong, but I think Brandon Roy might have been a little bit taller unless they’re the same height, but other than that, they have the same exact game. They’re not doing the extra stuff to get to the point. Everything’s fundamental and they’ll give you 50 points when needed, so that’s a great comparison from Shaq.

Colin: Now, you had to deal with pulmonary edema in your life. Do you mind talking about what happened?

Chris: My lung collapsed and I had heart failure. And I still tried to play pro after. I played some semi-pro stuff, but I never was who I was, you know? And that’s what a lot of people don’t know about me today. Like a good example is today I went for a walk for like an hour up a hill because I was in a valley and I was a little bit short of breath. And those things still happen because my body still hasn’t bounced back. And some people’s bodies don’t bounce back.

It’s something like 50% of people whose lungs collapse, they die. So it’s just, you know, a lot of people don’t understand what I really went through. So when that happened, that’s when I really realized what life’s all about. That’s when I started really clicking into who I need to be and how I need to cherish life and all that. So I feel like it was, it was a moment that was needed by me so I could use it to help others if that makes sense.

Because now I’m able to say don’t give up because of that situation. It’s a tough moment still to this day when I’m trying to do certain things at different times because I can’t catch my breath or something like that, but I’m still not gonna quit and I still wanna keep pushing. And that’s what a lot of people don’t know. It’s a rough moment that still sticks with me to today.

Colin: You got a chance to play a lot of hoops overseas, how cool is to see the game of basketball continuing to expand across the globe as it has, especially with the NBA game becoming more and more popular globally?

Chris: I mean, it’s beautiful. And the guy that you spoke about earlier, Kobe saw these things coming. Kobe was that guy that was going to these different countries, not saying other guys weren’t going, but Kobe really bought in to go into these different countries and take basketball over there, doing things with those different countries. And Kobe’s one of the ones that said that, you know, these countries are catching up with us. So to see what’s going on in the world right now, I’m happy. Like, what do we not want these people to develop?

So I’m happy to see all these countries catching up. I’m happy to see all these countries taking their players to the next level. I’m happy to see all these countries that now have NBA players and WNBA players in the lead.

Colin: You mentioned the WNBA too, what do you think of the WNBA and its continued growth?

Chris: I mean, it’s a beautiful thing. I feel like those women deserve it. Their basketball to me is way more fundamental than men’s basketball because the way they break down the basketball, they really get to their points — to their A’s and B’s really good.

And I think more athletes should watch women’s basketball if they’re trying to take their game to the next level because I feel like they’re playing the game the right way. I’m not saying that men don’t play the game the right way, but I feel like if you’re a young player and you’re really trying to learn a different type of footwork and a different type of dynamics of the game, you should really watch WNBA games and take notes because those women, they’re doing a great job.

Colin: Wrapping up, now I know you don’t want to pick favorites, but do you have a favorite WNBA player ever or currently that you’re like, man, I really love the way she plays?

Chris: I’ve been lucky enough for the last three and a half years to train Skylar Diggins-Smith. She’s my favorite WNBA player.

Thanks again to Chris for taking the time to chat with us.