10th august 2026

What does it really cost to chase a dream at the highest level? For Matty Johns, the answer is something most people never see from the outside.

Matty is a professional basketball player from Geelong, Victoria. He represented Australia internationally at junior level, spent four years playing college basketball in the United States, and went on to play in the NBL with the Brisbane Bullets before becoming the number one ranked 3x3 basketball player in the country. From the outside, he was living the life that every young athlete works toward.

But behind the career, behind the competition, and behind the version of himself that showed up on court every single day, a very different story was unfolding.

In this two-part episode of Leading Our Own Way, Matty opens up with the kind of honesty that is rare and necessary in equal measure. He talks about the weight of perfectionism in elite sport, the pressure of expectation, and the setbacks that tested him at every level of the game. He shares what it was really like chasing his dream through college basketball in America, the cultural adjustment, the criticism, the injuries, and the moments that forced him to confront who he actually was beneath the athlete.

Part One traces Matty's journey from a six-year-old falling in love with the game in Geelong to representing his country and stepping onto some of the biggest courts in Australian basketball. It is a conversation about resilience, self-awareness, and what it means to keep going when the game stops feeling worth it.

Part Two goes somewhere far more personal.

Matty shares his experience with anxiety and depression, including a near-suicide moment that changed the course of everything. He describes driving with the intent to end his life and how a single text from his mum, arriving at exactly the right moment, made him pull over and break down on the side of the road. That text saved him.

He talks about sleeping in a recliner every night because his anxiety had taken over so completely that he had normalised something that was a clear sign he needed help. He walks through his diagnosis, his medication journey, the lifestyle changes that slowly brought him back to himself, including reducing alcohol and rebuilding his sleep, and why vulnerability became the most powerful tool in his recovery.

His message is one that stays with you long after the episode ends. You cannot beat mental health. But you can learn to live with it. And our biggest strengths come from our weakest points.

This is not just a story about basketball. It is a story about what it means to be human, to struggle in silence, and to choose to stay.

Episode 119 is available from the 10th August on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

This is what leading your own way looks like. Raw. Real. Unfiltered.

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