Interlude: God Shammgod LP

If you followed basketball in the ’90s, you know who God Shammgod was. Aside from his signature crossover1 and his Elite Eight run with Providence in 1997, the name itself is memorable enough.

Growing up, the New York native went by the name Shammgod Wells, but when he committed to Providence, he had to either legally change his name for $600 or go by his birth name. He didn’t have the money, so God Shammgod stuck.

He played only a handful of games for the Washington Wizards and bounced around overseas for the next decade.

And then I stumbled upon this beat tape from Sacramento producer Jackson Nakanishi titled “The God Shammgod LP”.

And I had to ask Nakanishi about the reason behind it. His response:

I’m not entirely sure why I named it after God Shammgod. The cover makes no reference to him, neither do any of the beats.

Honestly, I think I just thought it was a cold ass title for a beat tape.

He’s one of my favorite players, but not really in the way elite players like Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Vince Carter, Chris Webber or Michael Jordan are my favorites.

It’s more in the fact that he was a lesser known name, slept on, but just sick with it, especially his handle.

More in the way Shawn Kemp, Rasheed Wallace, Jamaal Tinsley, Rafer Alston, or a player like Michael Beasley are my favorites.

I respect dudes like that, they’re not always my favorite for basketball reasons, they’re more like cult figures, like those who know are in the know.

And I think that’s kinda represents my music in a way.

So there you go. Shammgod: a cold ass title.

The God lives on.

photo via Flight Time

Footnotes:

1 Fun fact: Kobe learned his crossover move from Shammgod when they were AAU teammates.

Posted on 19 July, 2012

14 notes

  1. que-padre reblogged this from stevenlebron
  2. litakit reblogged this from stevenlebron
  3. cbank reblogged this from stevenlebron and added:
    OMG YES
  4. eatcerealwithwater reblogged this from stevenlebron
  5. tejunthomas reblogged this from stevenlebron
  6. rapsketball reblogged this from stevenlebron
  7. stevenlebron posted this