The Dallas Mavericks have two of the greatest ballhandlers of all time in their organization.

Kyrie Irving, who came to Dallas via trade in 2023, is the team’s star point guard. Irving helped the Mavericks reach the NBA Finals last summer and was named an All-Star for the ninth time in his career in February before a left knee injury sidelined him three weeks ago.

God Shammgod joined the Mavericks as an assistant coach in 2016. Now in his ninth season in Dallas, he is the team’s second-longest-tenured assistant. Shammgod is most well known for his namesake dribbling move. The “Shammgod” crossover is known internationally by basketball fans.

This week, Shammgod returns home to New York City, where he perfected the now-famous move. The Mavericks have back-to-back games in the Big Apple, as they play the Brooklyn Nets on Monday and the New York Knicks on Tuesday.

In the two years they’ve overlapped in Dallas, Shammgod and Irving have worked closely together. They are so tight that Irving considers Shammgod part of his family.

“I feel like he’s just one of my uncles just from Harlem, New York, that’s there to give me a little s— when I need it, but be honest all the time,” Irving said to reporters in June.

The New York City roots Irving and Shammgod share are essential to understanding their bond. Irving’s father, Drederick, grew up in the Bronx, as did Irving’s godfather, former NBA player Rod Strickland. Irving attended high school in New Jersey, but Shammgod — a Harlem playground legend who was the starting point guard on Providence’s Elite Eight team in 1997 — sees New York City’s influence everywhere in Irving’s game.

“Everything about Kyrie is New York,” Shammgod told The Athletic. “It don’t take nothing away from New Jersey, because New York and New Jersey are like brothers. But the flair and creativity, that’s mostly New York.”

Shammgod moved from Brooklyn to Harlem when he was 9 years old. He began spending time at the legendary Rucker Park, which awakened something inside of him. The bank shots and crossovers he saw there were physical expressions of creativity.

“I grew up in one of the roughest times in New York,” Shammgod said. “For me to be able to see people having joy because of basketball, it made me want to be a basketball player.”

Shammgod began playing basketball regularly at 11 years old. He said he “didn’t get good” until he was 13 — a late bloomer by today’s standards.

In 2020, during the early days of the pandemic, the Mavericks uploaded a YouTube video of Shammgod breaking down his move.

There are three parts to the “Shammgod” crossover. First, Shammgod pushes the ball far out in front of him with his right hand. Then, comes fancy footwork — a skip step that, if done correctly, causes the defender to lunge. For the finale, Shammgod re-possesses the ball with his left hand and brings it back across his body.

Many current NBA players have incorporated the dribble into their arsenal. Irving and his former Mavericks backcourt partner, Luka Dončić, have both done it during games. San Antonio Spurs point guard Chris Paul, who earlier this season passed Mavericks coach Jason Kidd for second on the all-time assists leaderboard, also is a practitioner.

In December, Orlando Magic guard Cole Anthony attempted it in a game against the Boston Celtics. Though he didn’t execute it flawlessly, he did it well enough to ultimately weave through the defense and score on an acrobatic finish at the rim.

“I think that’s one of the coldest moves ever,” Anthony said. “There’s only so many moves out there, and the fact that dudes literally call it the ‘Shammgod’ because he created it, I think that’s so iconic.”

Anthony is part of a long line of skilled guards who grew up in New York City. Dwayne “Pearl” Washington, Kenny “The Jet” Smith and Mark Jackson all were Big Apple-bred ballhandlers who made it to the NBA in the 1980s. Kenny Anderson, a player Shammgod idolized, was a college star at Georgia Tech who became the No. 2 pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. Later on, came Stephon Marbury (Georgia Tech) and Kemba Walker (UConn).

Before any of those players made their mark, there was Nate “Tiny” Archibald, who was the first player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring and assists during the 1972-73 season. In an amazing coincidence, Archibald was one of Shammgod’s middle school physical education teachers. In a first-person essay Shammgod penned for The Player’s Tribune in 2020, he recalled one piece of wisdom Archibald gave him: “If you can dribble, you’ll always have a job.”

Shammgod spent two years at Providence. In his final college game, he scored 23 points and handed out five assists. The Friars lost an overtime heartbreaker to the Arizona Wildcats with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Arizona went on to win the national championship.

Weeks later, Shammgod declared for the 1997 NBA Draft. The Washington Wizards chose him with the 46th pick in the second round. Shammgod appeared in only 20 games with the team. His professional career continued with stops in Poland, China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Croatia. He didn’t make it back to the NBA until 2016, when the Mavericks hired him as a player development coach.

“Some of these folks are ahead of their time, but they influence what’s to come,” said Keith Dawkins, the president of the Harlem Globetrotters. “Do I believe God Shammgod playing the way he played potentially has a different NBA career? For sure. But that’s about a multitude of things. That’s about the NBA being ready for it. That’s about the fans being ready for it. That’s about player development existing differently in the NBA.

“With his style of play, he was probably a bit ahead of the curve with what professional basketball was ready for at that time. But regardless, his influence was made.”

Shammgod, who has a signature sneaker with Puma, has the respect of many of the top players across the league. Trae Young and Ja Morant are two point guards Shammgod has formed close relationships with, in addition to Irving.

Anthony attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, but he didn’t get to know Shammgod until he made it to the NBA. Anthony said he learned to do Shammgod’s famous crossover on the internet, not on the blacktop where it was developed.

“You’ve got kids to this day working on the ‘Shammgod,’” Anthony said. “I’ve got a 12-year-old brother working on it.”

For Shammgod, there is no higher compliment someone can give him. He loves to see players throwing defenders off balance with his move. He knows it will be a part of the game even when he no longer is.

“I think the most important thing for me is I never thought I had a chance to make something better,” Shammgod said. “In life, you always want to make something better than how you found it. When I’m dead and gone, I know I made basketball better.

“No matter what, every couple years when a kid is born, even when I’m not here, even when my kids are adults, someone will be teaching their kid how to do the Shammgod. That’s an amazing feeling.”