Pam Moore played many roles for her son Wesley Matthews, but none was more important than coach.
Moore worked multiple jobs to support Wesley and also found time to drive him to every practice and game, even when that meant a three-hour roundtrip from Madison to Milwaukee for AAU/travel team practices. With Pam’s guidance, Wesley developed into one of the best basketball and soccer players in Wisconsin, following a carefully designed path that led him to become an 11-year NBA veteran and, currently, a valuable player for the Bucks.
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Basketball fans knew her son’s name because his father Wesley Matthews Sr. starred as a point guard at the University of Wisconsin and eventually won two NBA championship rings with the Lakers in a nine-year NBA career. But by the time Wesley put on his first jersey and played in his first game, Moore was a single mother. She had split up with Matthews Sr. when Wesley was 3 years old.
“After he got done with school, he’d take his homework and I’d have a dinner, lunch packed for him when I got off work and zipped him up I-94 and he played with the Milwaukee teams because I felt he needed more,” Moore said. “He needed more than he was getting.”
Moore didn’t just sit in the car and wait for her son. She watched. And she advised because she knew what it took.
She was a former Division I athlete herself.
As a freshman at Wisconsin in 1978, Moore was the basketball team’s leading scorer and rebounder before giving up the sport to focus full time on track and field. In her four years, she set multiple school and national records, was the 1979 track team MVP and a two-time All-American.
As her son competed, she watched intently and began plotting a path to make him a Division I athlete just like she had been.
“We had a plan,” Moore said. “I had a plan. This is what we’re going to do in terms of making it. I paved his way the whole way. Between AAU teams, I strategically picked what teams he was going to be on, where he was going, what fit him and what I thought he needed to do to be successful.”
The planning started early. Moore insisted that Matthews play against older kids to make sure he was challenged. She also made it clear that he had one responsibility in every basketball game played.
“I would watch the game and then I would decide, based on a few minutes in the game, who the best player was and I’d tell him, ‘No. You guard him.’ ” Moore said. “And I’d yell from the stands, ‘You guard this player.’ And I did that every game and again. And by the time it became high school, it was just automatic for him and he would just do that.”
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Every game. Defend the best player. It didn’t matter if that was the center or the point guard or whoever Matthews had been assigned to by his coach.
“I didn’t know anything else because she was, and still is, terrifying,” Matthews said. “It was like, ‘All right. I’m going to do what my mom told me to do.’ And it just instilled that fearlessness in me.”
His fearlessness paid off as he began to star at Madison’s James Madison Memorial High School.
After leading his team to a runner-up finish in the state championship during his junior year, Matthews averaged 22.5 points per game his senior season and won Mr. Basketball in Wisconsin, while leading Madison Memorial to the 2005 state championship. In the title game, Matthews scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
When it came time to decide on a college, the choice seemed simple. Moore starred at Wisconsin. Matthews’ father did too.
All signs pointed to the hometown university and the alma mater of both his mother and father, but Moore saw things differently.
“I was the one that shied him away from Wisconsin from the beginning,” said Moore, now retired after serving as an insurance underwriter in Madison. “Oh, no. I don’t have that kind of loyalty. It was what’s best for him and what I felt was best for him.
“Matter of fact, I would have been hurt if he went to Wisconsin. That was not my choice, it needed to be his choice. But that was the last place I wanted him to go. Who plays the swing offense in the NBA? Nobody. Which is what Wisconsin did.”
As always, Moore was prepared. She did the necessary research about each school interested in her son and drew up a list of pros and cons for each. Matthews would be tasked with making the final choice, but Moore did everything she could to make sure her son was as informed as possible.
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Eventually, Matthews decided upon Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s rival in basketball. Looking back, did Matthews make that decision to avoid the potential pitfalls of playing basketball at the school his famous father attended?
“I don’t think that decision even had anything to do with his dad per se. We just thought that was the better place for him,” Moore said. “In our goal, or what we wanted to accomplish, I thought he’d have a better chance getting it done at Marquette than at Wisconsin, based on my study and homework that I did to get prepared.”
By the end of his career, Matthews started in 118 of the 127 games he played at Marquette, forming a spectacular trio with Dominic James and Jerel McNeal. The Golden Eagles posted a .696 winning percentage in Matthews’ four years and all three players rank among the school’s top 10 all-time scorers. Matthews was named second-team All-Big East during his senior season after averaging 18.3 points per game.
“That’s your life,” Matthews said when asked to reflect on his time at Marquette. “You don’t know anything else. You just want to make the most out of it and I feel, for the most part, I did.
“Just a lot of time being with my teammates. … But it was more than just the basketball, being on the court. I miss that too. This fan base, this community, it’s just awesome. Playing for Marquette was one of the best things in my life.”
“You’ve got ‘til midnight and then you’ve got to put this aside and get ready for what’s coming next.”
Those are the words Matthews’ grandmother Madeline Gaines remembers saying to her grandson on June 25, 2009.
It was the night of the NBA Draft and Matthews hadn’t been selected. While his family watched the draft together at home, Matthews worked out in the gym at Madison Memorial. He had prepared himself for the possibility of going undrafted and knew that he might even need to play overseas to start his career, but it still stung.
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“He was so sad and so broken up,” Gaines said. “We’re a tough family, you know. And I knew he needed some time to get himself together. I had to find something to say, ‘OK. You’ve got time to do this, but at a certain point of time, you’ve got to move on because something else is coming.’ “
It didn’t take long. Matthews’ agent Jeff Austin soon called him to say he’d be playing with the Jazz’s NBA Summer League team.
More than 10 years have passed since that moment and Matthews still hasn’t forgotten that every team in the league passed over him on draft night. He carries that label with him wherever he goes and used to wear T-shirts with the word “undrafted” printed on them.
Those shirts are no longer a part of his wardrobe, but he hasn’t stopped wearing that “undrafted” label in his heart.
“You’re maybe not crazy about him when you get him, but you fell in love with him before it was over because of what he brings,” Moore said. “He’s blue-collar. He’s hardworking. And he doesn’t quit. And I won’t let him quit.
“What are you going to do? You gonna pack up and go home? What are you going to do? Just the fact that he takes every situation where it’s not even most beneficial to him and he hasn’t been given any red carpet and he still owns it. That’s what makes me most proud. Because he’s undrafted. Eleventh season in the league and he’s still a starter. On the best team in the NBA.”
It took a long time for Matthews to find his way back home. But the call he received from the Jazz on draft night was all he needed.
Matthews quickly went from Summer League to an NBA contract to a starting spot in the playoffs with the Jazz as a rookie. From there, Matthews went to Portland where he developed into one of the league’s best shooting guards. He tore his left Achilles tendon the spring before he was set to hit free agency in 2015, but despite the injury, he signed a four-year max deal with the Mavericks and stayed there until last season when he also played for the Knicks and Pacers in the final year of his contract.
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In his first 10 seasons, Matthews averaged 13.7 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists while playing 32.0 minutes per game. He shot 38.3 percent from behind the 3-point line and took more than 11 shots per game.
But things are different for Matthews in Milwaukee this season.
He has never taken fewer shots per game (6.3), played fewer minutes (24.6) and had such a small role offensively (7.5 points). The limited role was difficult for Matthews at first.
“It’s different,” Matthews said. “I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t tough because I’m such a rhythm player. I want to succeed and want to help this team. I want to see shots go in that I know can go in. I’ve made shots for a decade in the league, scored for a decade in this league. And to find a way to be ready.”
Matthews has gone through some ups and downs shooting the ball from beyond the 3-point arc, but he has hit 37.1 percent of his attempts on the season. Although respectable, that number is still below his career percentage (38.1 percent).
“Some nights, I might shoot four times,” Matthews said. “Other nights, I might shoot 14 times. Some nights, I might play 20 minutes. Some nights, I might play 12 minutes. Some nights, I might play 30-some minutes. It’s just trying to find that niche and that’s the beauty of basketball. And you have to be receptive to it and not do what I did earlier and get down and get mad and get frustrated.”
“You know what? This is a learning opportunity. And it’s a chance to grow as a basketball player and I’ve got to tweak some things that I do.”
It might have taken a little while, but Matthews has grown more comfortable with his role.
Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer might not be asking for Matthews to produce offensively, but he expects regular contributions on the defensive end. Matthews has guarded some of the league’s stars, including LeBron James of the Lakers, Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers and James Harden of the Rockets.
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“I just love the defensive toughness, the identity that he’s taken on,” Budenholzer said of his veteran shooting guard. “I love what he brings defensively and then offensively, his ability to spread the court, make shots, screens, little things that he does.”
The changes by Matthews have turned him into the contributor reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo expected when he recruited Matthews to Milwaukee last summer. Antetokounmpo told Matthews what he liked about his game, how he might fit in Milwaukee and how together they could win their first championship ring.
To Matthews, it wasn’t only the words, it was the fact the Bucks star made the phone call.
“He didn’t have to call, but for him to do so, especially someone who I have competed against so aggressively; he’s an aggressive player. I’m an aggressive player. So, it would have been easy for him to be like, ‘Ehhhh,’ “ Matthews said. “People don’t know me, you don’t know my personality. You just know what I am on the court. And most offensive players probably don’t like it.
“It meant a lot and it just kind of clicked. It’s time to go home. I was eyeballing Milwaukee for about two years, and the timing was right.”
This isn’t the end for Matthews. He should still have years left in the NBA, but his homecoming has allowed the people closest to him to celebrate all he has accomplished thus far.
Marquette hosted Wesley Matthews Bobblehead Night on Jan. 15 against Xavier. Matthews admired the detail of his trademark leg sleeve and short hair on the bobblehead, before making his way to his seat on the baseline of the floor at Fiserv Forum among the VIPs accompanying him on this special night.
The two rows were star-studded, with Antetokounmpo sitting in the first row on the baseline with Matthews, as well as Budenholzer, the league’s reigning coach of the year, and Bucks guard Donte DiVincenzo. But to Matthews, the most important guests were the three women — his grandmother, his mother and his daughter — who have made him the man he is today.
Tonight, @WessyWes23 was honored by @MarquetteMBB at @FiservForum.
Coach Bud and @Giannis_An34 surprised him with a show of support!! #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/5IswOtq2ag
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) January 16, 2020
It was the rare game where his mother and grandmother sat next to each other. While Matthews was at Marquette, they learned that it was simply something they could not do. Moore remembers it accidentally occurred during a Marquette game at the Bradley Center, and after only five minutes, they asked around to “get somebody in between us.”
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“She treats him one way and I’m sitting there being more critical of things,” Moore said.
“I’m still his grandmother, so he gets a lot of slack from me that nobody else will give him,” Gaines admits.
For one night, though, Gaines and Moore made an exception. It’s not every night the 33-year-old man Gaines still refers to as “my baby” gets honored at his alma mater. And Gaines has more energy these days anyhow. She doesn’t have to stay up late watching her grandson on League Pass with the 9 p.m. tips common of Western Conference teams.
As Marquette showed a tribute video of Matthews during the game, he only had to look to his right to see the pride and joy all three felt watching him be honored.
Gaines has made it to about half of the Bucks’ 24 home games thus far and when she is there, Matthews knows he can look to her for unconditional support.
“I never played basketball,” Gaines said. “I just understand it from the mental aspect.”
Moore has been at every game this season and sits in the same seat across from the Bucks’ bench every night, so Matthews knows exactly where to look.
“We do make eye contact when I’m in the stands,” Moore said. “And it’s more reassuring, that’s what I’m doing for him now.
“If he’s having a terrible game and he’s shooting the ball really bad and I know he’s down on himself and he gets to the bench, I just clap hard. Like, he knows what that means. It’s like, ‘Who cares. You’re 0 for 5. Come on. Keep at it.’ Just a reassurance and just making sure he doesn’t think he’s letting me down, which is crazy in itself.”
If those two faces are not what Matthews is looking for, he can look to the one person he knows won’t be overly critical or forgiving. She will be indifferent to what is happening on the floor. If he needs to, he can take a quick look at his 2-year-old daughter, whom he raises as a single father, and remind himself what is truly important.
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“When she’s at games and I’m struggling, I can just look up at her and she doesn’t give a damn about what’s going on,” Matthews said. “She doesn’t know. She gives me energy. She gives me a purpose. She refocuses me.
“At the drop of a hat, if something called for me, knock on wood, to no longer play this game, that’s what I’m doing. Being her dad. It’s the most important thing. It’s the best job in the world. The second-best job in the world is being a professional basketball player.”
(Photo of Kate Foley, Pam Moore, Madeline Gaines, Wesley’s daughter, Wesley Matthews: Maggie Bean / Marquette University)