Mavs Coach God Shammgod on Kyrie Irving Redemption: ‘They’re Gonna See This Year’
For Dallas Mavericks player development coach God Shammgod, working with Kyrie Irving is an absolute dream. Add in their long-time relationship that goes back to when Irving was just a kid, and you have a match made in heaven.
On a recent episode of Knuckleheads Podcast, Shammgod spoke on his journey, including landing with the Mavs as a coach and working with Irving.
"I've known his pops forever so I knew Kai when he was young," Shammgod said. "It's funny because when he first came, I was like, 'Oh yeah, cool now we got the second-best dribbler in the NBA.'"
And he wasn’t joking. When you have a move named after you, that says a lot about just how legendary your skillset is. And for Shammgod, that's his handle, which Irving can perfectly emulate.
"It's just amazing to see the things that he can do," Shammgod said. "He's one of the people that got it all. It ain't just ballhandling; he's got all the layups, shots, everything."
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But for Shammgod, it's not just who Irving is as a player -- it's who he is as a person that makes him 'special' despite all the outside noise and misperception on who he really is.
"He's just a great person, great player. He's always trying to teach the young guys on the team," Shammgod said. "As a person, he's special. That's why when people say stuff I'm like 'bro, do you know him?'"
And that's the thing with Irving: the people who criticize him based off his social media posts don't truly know who he is. Though, with some of Irving's past posts and comments, it makes it easy to speculate, but it’s best to not judge a book by its cover.
With Shammgod and the entire league's unapologetic admiration for Irving, it's hard to believe anything else.
As for this upcoming season for the Mavs, Shammgod believes Irving is ready to prove the world wrong.
"...They're gonna see this year."
