Milwaukee Bucks' Grayson Allen picks up shooting tips from viral Internet star

Basketball players will listen to anyone if that person helps them become better on the court.

That demand has created a cottage industry of skills trainers who pop up on social media feeds taking players through elaborate routines. A few have become viral celebrities like Drew Hanlen, who works with several top NBA players.

Then there is Chris “Lethal Shooter” Matthews, who mixes comedic bits on Instagram alongside his shooting workouts with players such as the Milwaukee Bucks’ Grayson Allen and Bobby Portis. That mix of work and fun has earned him 2.2 million followers on the platform, and helped him become a character on the popular video game "NBA2K."

But Allen and Portis only care about Matthews helping them become better shot-makers, and the man known as “Lethal Shooter” is especially equipped to do that. The videos of him dropping in 35-footer after 35-footer are mesmerizing for the metronomic swishes and Matthews’ picture-perfect form that has no wasted motion.

Allen can confirm that Matthews doesn't benefit from any editing tricks.

“He actually really is a really good shooter,” Allen said after the Bucks’ recent victory over the New York Knicks. “He can do everything he teaches, so it’s cool.”

How does Grayson Allen know Lethal Shooter?

Allen popped up on Matthews’ Instagram feed on Oct. 17 with video from a workout at UW-Milwaukee’s Klotsche Center. It’s a gym where Matthews has worked out with Portis before.

“I worked out with him once last year,” Allen said. “We’ve been talking for a while, though, ever since I was in college. But the first time working out with him was last year and then just got together with him again this year. He came to Milwaukee.”

Like everybody else, Allen first heard of Matthews through the viral videos.

“I’m not a social media guy,” Allen said. “But that’s how we first connected. I want to say it was either my junior or senior year of college. We also have a mutual friend through (former Duke teammate) Quinn Cook and a bunch of other guys.”

Who is viral basketball trainer Lethal Shooter?

Matthews grew up in the fertile basketball area surrounding Baltimore and Washington, D.C., where Cook and Kevin Durant were star players around Matthews’ age.

After high school at National Christian Academy in Maryland, Matthews played at St. Bonaventure and Washington State. He bounced around pro teams overseas before injuries brought him back to the United States in 2015.

He started training players and building his following.

“I think a lot of people think it's easy to try and be a skills coach or help train NBA and WNBA players,” Matthews told Sports Illustrated’s Ben Pickman in 2020. “There was a time when I was actually training people for minimum wage.

“I got my breakthrough by just being consistent and understanding how good I was as a coach. I’m all about everybody learning.”

Grayson Allen believes in work with Lethal Shooter

In the video with Allen at the Klotsche Center, the 6-foot-4 Bucks guard drains 12 straight shots from the right wing well behind the three-point line while Matthews passes the ball back to Allen with words of encouragement.

“Paying attention to a lot of the details in my shot,” Allen said. “Like we weren’t trying to change anything. More just keep everything as solid as possible. Whether it’s balance, where my feet are pointing, how I’m finishing up after the shot with my follow-through, how I’m landing. It’s all the tiny details that make it perfect. And practicing it being perfect.”

After Allen misses a shot, Matthews instructs him not to lean back after his follow through. Allen makes two of the next three attempts, including the final one after an intentionally awkward pass from Matthews.

“In that video he posted, the way I’m shooting looks a little bit more stiff than the shots you see me take in a game,” Allen said. “That’s because I’m trying to have everything perfect. Like the follow-through, my guide hand, my landing, my balance.

“And so just trying to keep those things in mind in practice or when I’m in the gym shooting by myself or in the pregame warmup. The more I can practice those things all being perfect and being on point, the better it will be for my shot when you don’t have enough time to make everything perfect.”

Allen is off to a slow start from deep this season compared to his 39.1% career mark, going just 10 for 31 (32.2%) before leaving Monday's victory over the Detroit Pistons with a knee contusion.

Lethal Shooter might be getting another call soon.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bucks' Grayson Allen works with Instagram star Lethal Shooter