Newest Lakers star unveils biggest change with immediate results

Seahawks QB Sam Darnold (quad) ruled out vs. Cardinals

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Newest Lakers star unveils biggest change with immediate results

An image collage containing 3 images, Image 1 shows Los Angeles Lakers guard Matisse Thybulle (26) warms up before a game against the Denver Nuggets at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, Image 2 shows Los Angeles Lakers guard Matisse Thybulle (4) shoots a 3-point basket against the Utah Jazz during an NBA basketball game at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026, Image 3 shows Matisse Thybulle (26) of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots a 3-point basket against the Atlanta Dream during a game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026

Khobi Price · NY Post Sports

Wed, Oct 28, 2026 ·

5 min read

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While Matisse Thybulle was playing for the Trail Blazers — the same team the Lakers were beaten by on Tuesday night — he knew he needed to make a change to his shot.

The results have not only led to a strong shooting stretch to kick off his tenure as a Laker but also a unique pregame shooting routine that's paying off.

Lakers wing Matisse Thybulle has modified his shooting form over the last couple of years. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The eighth-year wing out of Washington has a unique twist to his pregame shooting routine: Thybulle cycles in "no-dip" 3s (when a player catches the pass and immediately shoots it from their chest or above their head without dropping the ball down around their waist) and one-handed 3s.

The origins of the No. 20 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft incorporating unorthodox shooting into his routine stems from working with Trail Blazers shooting coach John Townsend during 2024-25 as he was rehabbing from a preseason right knee surgery and sprained right ankle that sidelined him for the first 67 games that season.

"My shot has never been something I was confident in," Thybulle told the California Post on Tuesday. "It was always an insecurity of mine."

The most significant changes that were made to his shot: moving Thybulle's right (shooting) arm more to the side and keeping his elbow more tucked in.

Townsend had Thybulle go through "platform shooting" to accommodate him not being able to always jump as he rehabbed from the lower-body ailments.

"And then I started to notice some differences," Thybulle told The Post. "I was probably like a month out of being able to play again. And he's like, 'Well, you kind of have to decide now: Do you want to change your shot and stick to it and you can't go back? Or keep shooting the way you've been shooting?'

"I was like, 'But I want to change it.' So then we just decided to just stick with the changes that we were doing, trust the work and not really worry too much about the results for a little bit."

Lakers wing Matisse Thybulle made his first no-dip 3 of the regular season against the Jazz on Sunday. NBAE via Getty Images

The changes yielded positive results.

After shooting 34.6% on 3s in 2023-24, Thybulle shot 43.8% from deep across 15 regular-season games in 2024-25 (albeit on small volume — 21 of 48) and 39.8% in 30 games in 2025-26 (37 of 93).

He entered Tuesday shooting 46.7% on 3s (7 of 15).

"So far," Thybulle told The Post, "it's worked out."

Admittedly, he went just 1-for-4 from downtown in the loss to the Blazers. But one off-game is not an indication that his due diligence has not paid off.

The reason he incorporates the no-dip and one-handed 3s into his pregame routine is because it helps him maintain his shooting form.

"It was a huge foundational piece of just having my hand under the ball next to my head and then shooting through it," Thybulle said. "And it became something that we would go back to a lot if my shot started to float around or I wasn't shooting the way I wanted to. And then it just became a thing of like, well, 'Am I confident enough to shoot that in a game? Do I trust myself to shoot it?'"

The answer is yes, with Thybulle saying he took a "couple" of no-dip 3s with the Blazers last season.

He made his first no-dip 3 with the Lakers in the preseason during the Oct. 8 home win over the Kings .

Matisse Thybulle of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots a 3-point basket against the Nuggets. NBAE via Getty Images

And he made his first of the regular season during the third quarter of Sunday's road win over the Jazz .

"Having done it, I had gotten so many reps of it," Thybulle told The Post, "I got pretty confident in that being a good shot."

Thybulle's taken enough no-dip 3s that he doesn't consider it a unique shot.

"That's just a part of my shot archetype and shot package," he told The Post. "I actually prefer it at times."

Thybulle added: "There's less variables. When you catch a no-dip shot, you're under the ball, you have to fully extend. Whereas when you catch a regular pass, dip the ball down sometimes, you catch it across your body, you bring it over. Gotta make sure your legs are under you. There's just more pieces to it. Luka [Doncic ] and [ Austin Reaves ] throw such good passes that if I put my hands up, I'm literally catching it in my shooting pocket and I can just finish it through."

Even though he doesn't shoot the one-handed 3s in games, it's also an important part of staying true to his modified shooting form.

"A bad habit I have in mind is my elbow gets out from underneath the ball," Thybulle told The Post. "If you try to do that with one hand, you're going to drop the ball. You can't hold it. So it really forces you to be underneath the basketball. And then, you bring another hand and the carryover is really helpful."

For Thybulle, the unconventional forms are all about "laying the foundation" for his shot: physically and mentally.

"It takes a level of confidence and not caring to shoot those shots in public," he told The Post. "Because I'll shoot one-handed shots to this day and just airball them. It's the reason people shoot with two hands — it's a hard shot.

"For me, the willingness to shoot through those embarrassing moments and trust that this is something that helps me and can guide me to the way I want to shoot, that to me, more than anything … one part physical, another part mental. Just like getting that voice in your head that tells you like shoot the regular way so that you can make it. 'Cause if you do it this way, you might miss and it's going to be embarrassing. Just like free yourself of that and just like trust the process."

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