Second-generation Laker fueled by championship opportunity
Wesley Matthews shared a name and with his father, but for a long time, there was little else.
For many years, he was raised by his mother, Pam Moore, and he and his father were not terribly close. But one of the few through lines has been basketball: The day he was born — Oct. 18, 1986 — was the day that Wes Sr. signed with the Lakers, on his way to championships in 1987 and 1988. And the younger Matthews has a picture, “I've always had” of him as a toddler, dressed headto-toe in denim at the Great Western Forum cradling a ball in his tiny hands.
The most important part of Wesley Matthews' decision to sign with the Lakers 34 years after his father did has to do with the present: He sees this as the best chance of his 11year career to win an NBA title. But there’s clearly a mystique, too — a history that has nostalgic and even bittersweet ties that have drawn Matthews to the franchise since he was born.
“I'm a little bit younger than the age that my daughter is now,” Matthews said of that old photograph. “Just to see everything coming full circle — it's really only God can write a story like this and it's not done yet. But it's sentimental.”
There are a lot of layers to Matthews' addition to the defending champions, but the foremost is defense. The 34-year-old has built a reputation for being a stalwart on that end of the court, which is a big reason the Lakers sought him out in free agency.
Matthews agreed to terms during the opening hours of free agency after he said it was clear that the Lakers thought highly of him. As he watched the rest of the roster take shape, he said, his anticipation for next season only grew.
As Matthews spoke to the media on a video conference on Tuesday afternoon, he gestured behind him to the basketball court in his house — he said he would be working out immediately after getting off the call.
“I'm excited to be wanted,”
he said. “I’m excited to be in a situation where I feel like I can showcase most of my game. I’m excited for the opportunity to try to raise an 18th banner. I’m excited for an opportunity to play basketball at the highest level. I’m excited about everything.”
Matthews brings a gritty element to the Lakers after carving out a respectable career from being an undrafted free agent out of Marquette. He overcame a devastating Achilles tendon injury in 2015, returning later in the same year.
During his rehab, he said he received meaningful advice from a Lakers legend: Kobe Bryant. Matthews choked up with emotion for a moment as he recounted getting a call from a number he didn’t recognize as he pulled up to his driveway in Portland.
“He was just sharing his wisdom about it and it really helped motivate me because he was honest and he said it’s hard,” Matthews said. “He said it’s going to be hard. At the time, that’s not what you want to hear but it’s what I needed to hear because I didn’t want anything sugar-coated.”
One of Matthews’ career goals is to be the best undrafted NBA player ever: Averaging 13.1 points per game and shooting 38 percent from 3-point range in his career of 791 games puts him at least high on the list.
He played in Dallas with J.J. Barea, another undrafted overachiever — and the one thing Barea always has had over him was a championship. Matthews said he has reached the point in his career when that’s the most important factor.
“Winning is the No. 1 goal,” he said. “So going into free agency, we had an idea that contenders were gonna be the teams that were gonna come after me. For me, that’s all I wanted.”
In Los Angeles, Matthews has the opportunity to partner with Lebron James, who he’s often been charged with defending for other teams. When asked if he was looking forward to getting more 3-point looks playing alongside James, Matthews quipped: “Who doesn’t like to shoot?”
But Matthews was also effusive about the Lakers’ track record on defense in last season’s playoffs. Matthews’ own Bucks team fell apart in a secondround series against the Miami Heat, and critics cited a lack of obvious adjustments to account for Jimmy Butler and company. Matthews seemed to intuit that would not be a problem playing for a Frank Vogel-coached squad.
“I like to think that I know a thing or two on the defensive end. I can read situations, I can make adjustments on the fly,” he said. “I’m a defensive mind along with a team full of defensive-minded people so things can be discussed and nuances can be done in-game, live, when it’s going so we can put ourselves in the best position to win.”
In recent years, Matthews has gotten closer to his father, a hard-fought process that fills him with pride. The increasing warmth in that relationship has allowed him to take more joy in his familial ties to the Lakers — he was also a big fan of Eddie Jones growing up. More than once, Matthews talked about raising what would be the franchise’s 18th championship banner next season.
He knows the Lakers’ history and pantheon well. Now, he’s looking for his place in it.