God Shammgod had haters. At age 15.
Just when a teenage Shammgod was emerging as a New York City playground legend for his handles at places like Rucker Park, there were some old heads who had other names for him. They didn’t see a guy whose dribble foretold the future of the game, they saw a showboat.
“Like 25 years earlier, people used to ridicule me for dribbling like this or being too fancy or stuff like that,” Shammgod told NBC Sports while discussing his new book, ‘Word of God.‘ “And now when you look at the NBA or any college, any high school, if you can’t dribble, you might not have a job.
“It’s funny because when I talk to certain kids.., I’m like, ‘Y’all don’t know how good y’all got it.’ I’m like, ‘In my era, I was ridiculed for this.’ So I’m glad I’m getting praise now, but I’m like, man, only if y’all knew what I went through growing up where I wasn’t being praised for this.”
There is praise now. Shammgod — and the signature crossover named after him — have become legend within the league.
As the NBA game evolved in the past couple of decades — with 3-point shooting becoming a priority for all five spots — the floor opened up, putting a premium on high-level ball handling. It’s not just point guards and maybe a wing who need to have handles now, it’s everyone. Modern centers like Victor Wembanyama are out there pulling off the Shammgod in games.
What was once seen as “showboating” is now a coveted skill — and they want Shammgod to coach it. (He is currently an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic.)
“Now you see the way the NBA had to accept it and basketball as a whole had to accept it, that you could tell a difference between a person showing off and the person really playing basketball,” Shammgod said. “Like, you got Kyrie Irving and you got Steph Curry and stuff like that, where this is just a part of their game. And that’s how I felt with me growing up. But when we growing up, it wasn’t really acceptable.”
Passing along lessons
Teaching guys how to dribble was something Shammgod was asked to do going back to the 1995 ABC Camp when “Jelly Bean” Bryant asked him to work with his son, Kobe (a story Shammgod tells in his book). What Shammgod did not know then was that his teaching skills would add to his legend.
What he teaches NBA players about handles is not a formula, but rather the opposite — he urges players to be creative and intuitive. To go with their natural flow.
“Some people dribble like robots and some people dribble. So it’s just all about teaching them how to find their own unique flow,” Shammgod said. “Like they don’t need to dribble like me, like they need to find their own unique flow.
“And I think that’s why a lot of players work with me because I never try to make them me. I try to find their own unique flow and just bring that out of them. So like, if you only, if you only going to dribble three, three dribbles every time you catch the ball, then I need to make you the best three dribble person in the world.”
As he describes in “Word of God,” — in between a wealth of great stories from a man who has been around so much in the game — what Shammgod is trying to teach is more intuitive for a hooper than what can be found in endless drills. It’s about comfort level with that flow.
“Like only thing I did was I always wanted to make sure I was comfortable in uncomfortable situations when it came to basketball. So I just read and react. And sometimes the moves are amazing. Sometimes the moves are regular.
“I think I’m so relevant because I, the way I play is how kids play today.”
Those kids now have made Shammgod more popular than ever. Which might shock some old heads on New York City playgrounds a couple of decades ago.
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