Everyone who is anyone in wheelchair basketball knows the quick witted, humorous and never without a smile player that is Matt Scott. How could you not, from being a Polo Ralph Lauren campaigner, ESPN’s ESPY nominee, avid social media promoter, actor for Nike’s No Excuses commercial, and star of his own nationwide broadcast on New Year’s eve two years in a row. Scott is your model athlete with such an encouraging and positive energy recognized everywhere he goes and in everything he does.

Scott claims his success of wheelchair basketball is attributed to rolling up socks and shooting them into his hamper, just as Kobe Bryant did. Well, hamper shooting sure did him well, and at the age of 14 he found the beauty of the sport and never looked back. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, a powerhouse school for wheelchair basketball, and now his whole life is basketball he admits.

That life of basketball has led to some amazing opportunities that he is grateful for. Scott has been overseas for just about 10 years, eight in Istanbul and one year in Porto Torres Sardinia where he currently resides. He is on his second season playing for GSD Porto Torres. He has a true love for both of his homes, as Detroit was where he was born and raised, and Porto Torres the small town in Sardinia is full of heart has really grown on him.

“The people, food, scenery and the entire lifestyle is all so warm and welcoming. I knew the minute I got there it was a special place,” said Scott.

The ability to play professional wheelchair basketball has really allowed Scott to do all his favorite things: travel, try new foods; experience new and unique things; attempt new activities; and write about all the places he goes. That is truly what makes Matt Scott, Matt Scott.

His innate ability to passionately indulge himself into every single thing he does is unique to his persona. He gives his whole heart to everything and everybody on a daily basis and that is why he is a highly loved and respected player all over the world.

Scott finds some musical inspiration from one of his favorite artists Drake. Music being one of his first loves, he claims to download anything and everything Drake puts out even if its good or bad. You can find the entire team jamming to Drake in the gym before practice and training camps all thanks to Scott. He enjoys most live music and attending concerts as often as he can. He also has a strong love for art of all forms including visual and performing arts.

If that isn’t impressive enough, Scott expands his resume by adding Turkish and Italian to the list of languages that he speaks. He can fluently speak Turkish but humbly admits his Italian is coming along more slowly. Scott also admits to having a massive shoe collection to keep his “shoe game strong” even though he has no feet (he is double amputee) and often turns his left shoe backward during games as a good luck charm.

Through Scott’s impressive reputation, long list of achievements, incredible experiences and overall amazing energy and personality he remembers what is important – his family and even more importantly his mother. His family is very supportive of everything he does and is always in his corner whenever he needs them.

“My mother is my shining star, everything I do is in order to make her proud. She means the world to me,” Scott commented.

From the words of a four-time Paralympian, Nike athlete and overall star to anyone he meets. He has the heart of a champion and his actions truly speak volumes to the kind of person Matt Scott really is.