Are you ready to travel around the country to cities where basketball is part of the heartbeat of culture?
Baylor assistant coach Chloe Pavlech and NBA shooting coach Chris Matthews “Lethal Shooter,” along with Red Bull Media House, debuted a Sports Illustrated YouTube series called Hoops Passport on Aug. 23. In the show, Pavlech and Lethal Shooter take a city and explore all things basketball in that place, talking to some of the most influential basketball figures to bring out a unique flavor of the sport.
Hoops Passport trailer
The second episode takes place in Washington, D.C., a place near and dear to both Pavlech and Lethal Shooter. Pavlech was a point guard for Brenda Frese at the University of Maryland from 2012-13 to 2015-16 and Matthews grew up in DC.
The hosts talk to two-time King of the Rock street ball champ Hugh Jones “Baby Shaq” and filmmaker Melanie Page. Matthews also goes to Langdon Park in Northeast DC to speak with DeLonte Taylor aka “Coach Nut” and Pavlech meets with COO of The Campus, Iman McFarland.
The episode isn’t complete without a trip to Oohh’s & Aahh’s, a soul food restaurant in DC that captures the culture of the city. The hosts talk to owner Oji Abbott. Oohh’s and Aahh’s is a Black-owned business. One of the themes of the episode is all the opportunity there is for Black people in DC and how so many influential people in DC are Black.
Lethal Shooter also goes to Chuck Brown Memorial Park to speak with UCB lead talker Roc Mikey about Go-go music, the official music of DC., and how it has united all the DC neighborhoods as one city.
You can view the full episode below:
The Atlanta and New York City episodes are also available.