Dennis Smith Jr. has lofty goals ahead of him this upcoming season and the Dallas Mavericks have equipped him with the right coaching to achieve them. The No. 9 overall pick of this NBA Draft will work alongside 14-year NBA veteran Darrell Armstrong and ball-handling wizard God Shammgod, who had a short stint in the league and led the Chinese Basketball Association in scoring back in 2004.
“Both of those guys played in the league, and both of those guys grew up playing the point guard position in different fashions,” head coach Rick Carlisle told Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. “Both of those guys have done a great job for us and have influenced our program in a very positive way, so they’re going to help.”
Armstrong, a North Carolina native just like Smith, is an assistant coach with the Mavericks — hired in 2009 after leading the Spanish League in scoring in 1995. The grizzled veteran won a championship with the Mavs in 2011, playing under and coaching the likes of Jason Kidd.
Shammgod is a player development coach with the team. He previously coached Smith back in high school and worked with the fifth overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, Kris Dunn, as an assistant coach at Providence College.
The streetball legend also has worked with MarShon Brooks and Ricky Ledo, both who have gone to carve out very successful careers at the international level.
While Shammgod's reputation within league circles runs deep, perhaps his most notorious gift to the NBA has been teaching Kobe Bryant his crossover move, leaving a few his fingerprints on an all-time legend.
It's sure to say that Smith is in good hands coming into this season, as he was previously touted as a dark horse candidate to win Rookie of the Year.
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