No Excuses

My friends gave me no slack at all,” says Paralympian wheelchair basketball player Matt Scott about childhood basketball games. “If I was late on a double play, if I made a bad pass, they were all over me. They didn’t care if I was in a wheelchair. Nobody changed the rules for me.”
Wheelchair Basketball Star
Scott, who was born with spina bifida, grew up in Detroit, Michigan, where he participated in a variety of sports alongside his able-bodied peers. Now a member of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater wheelchair basketball squad, Scott has won four national championships. He was also recently selected to the Paralympic squad for the second time.
The 23-year-old college senior attributes his achievements to a dedicated work ethic, and to a support structure of friends and family that never allowed him to use his disability as an excuse.
“My mother was always great. If I was whining, she had no sympathy. She really helped me create my independence by not babying me,” Scott said.
Just Do It Disability Campaign
It was Scott’s independent nature and strong will, along with his skills on the court, that attracted the attention of America’s most influential sports apparel company, Nike. Nike was searching for an athlete with a disability that exemplified their “Just Do It” trademark, and after auditioning a handful of superstar athletes with disabilities, the company picked Scott to star in a 30-second commercial.
“I think that they were looking for the prettiest face in America and stumbled across me,” Scott joked about the selection process.
After being picked, Scott flew out to California in December to film the commercial with Oscar-winning documentary director Errol Morris. The ad features Scott dribbling a basketball while rattling off a list of 56 excuses that could be used to avoid practicing or working out. He shouts the final excuse, “My feet hurt,” as the camera fades out to show a shot of his lower body, revealing that he’s in a wheelchair.
Disability Community Star
The ad aired during the college football bowl season in January, and has been viewed more than 230,000 times on YouTube. It’s also elevated Scott to celebrity status in the disability community. He’s been asked to speak at a number of disability-related events, and feels it’s his duty to use the spotlight to advocate on behalf of those with disabilities.
“I’ve been given a voice, and I want to do whatever I can to promote and break down the social barriers for disabled sports and make people realize that disabled athletes are very strong powerful athletes,” Scott said.
Scott’s major is in social work, and he hopes to someday use his degree to work in rehabilitation counseling or other disability-related fields. But for the moment, he’s focused on excelling for the U.S. wheelchair basketball squad in the 2008 Paralympics. “Our goal is the gold, nothing less,” Scott said about the squad’s aspirations in Beijing.
After the Paralympics, Scott plans to play professional wheelchair basketball—most likely abroad—but he’s vocal about his desire to continue to give back to the disability-sports community that he credits with much of his success. He advises young athletes with disabilities that the best way to succeed is “to set a goal, go after it, and once you hit it, set another one.”
“I don’t feel like my disability has ever prevented me from doing anything I wanted to do,” he added.