Enjoy a Q&A with God & His Son Shammagod Jr

God Shammgod and Shammgod Jr. display a beautiful father-son connection in their new campaign for Advil. In this exclusive, we talk to the pair about their careers, relationship with sports, and each other.

God and his son hope to push people to pursue their dreams and deepen their connection to their own unique talents. Learn more about the father-son duo and what's on the horizon for them.

The father-son duo reveal how sports has strengthened their bond despite juggling demanding careers

“The most important thing that ever happened in my life was the birth of my first son [Sham Jr.]. The second moment was me moving to Harlem. That gave me the vision to be successful as a basketball player, to want more in life - then I would say the third best day in my life was getting drafted to the NBA,” says NBA royalty God Shammgod in the opening cut of his new campaign “The Show Must Go On,” with Advil.

“The one thing you want to do is pass on something that you consider you’ve done great or that you’ve done good in your life,” he continued.

So, naturally, when Bleu had the opportunity to catch up with God and Shammgod Jr. to chat about this momentous occasion — working alongside each other on a campaign for the consumer-preferred and expert-recommended brand — we had to ask: “What does this moment at this point and time in your life mean to you and why?”

“Partnering up with Advil to do this campaign is an amazing feeling because of where I'm at in my life and who I'm doing it with,” said God.

“Right now in life, I'm a coach. Most of the people who know my story know I grew up in Harlem and made it to the NBA — played 20 games,” God said, touching on his decision to enter the NBA draft in 1997, in which he was drafted 45th overall by the Washington Wizards.

“I fought through and persevered to show that you can still have a better life and meet your goals. You don't have to end with the NBA. If one dream doesn't happen — if you work hard — other dreams will open up for you,” the Dallas Mavericks player development coach, 47, continued.

“And then, you know, all these years later doing it with my son — he's part of the main reason why I started this journey,” added God, sharing that he became a father at 17 years young.

“It changed my life like having real purpose and meaning. Loving and caring for something bigger than yourself — wanting and wishing that one day you could get to a place to share something like this with him.”

He concluded, adding that for both of them to be coaches currently — as Sham Jr. currently serves as assistant coach for the Delaware Blue Coats — is simply icing on the cake.

Meanwhile, Sham Jr. who revealed he recently became a father himself, added that “for people to see us do this together, I think, is a big thing. For him to want to do it with me, it gives me the opportunity to, you know, show what I'm doing in life as well. So, I thank him for that. And I think that that's like, just a huge thing to do. You know, for your son or for anybody.”

As for how Advil’s products - such as its Dual Action Back pain reliever - has both elevated the pair’s game and helped maintain their overall health and wellness, God expressed it’s a game changer, joking that ice baths and Advil got him through in his early career as you “didn't have all these sports things that you have now. Like all these machines and different things to help compress.”

“In my era, when you were down it's like, ‘hey, take some Advil.’ ‘Broke your arm? Take Advil.’ Advil and ice was everything. So for me to see this come full circle - this is like one of the strangest and one of the most amazing feelings.”

“I think, for me, I mean, I'm not that old,” Shammgod Jr. laughingly interjected. “It was always something that when you got to the point of the season - probably around January, February - when you had already took a beat and played a bunch of games. That [Advil] was the first thing you look for before a game - because as much as you recover, everybody knows, when you get to a certain point in the season, something hurts, whether it's an ankle or a finger- it kind of took the pain right away.”

Meanwhile, as we are fast on the heels of Father’s Day, the dynamic duo shared the biggest lesson they’ve learned from each other in hopes of inspiring others to slow down and be present.

“I would say how to navigate time,” revealed God. “I'm saying this because I have other children, other sons, you know, he [Sham Jr.] has other siblings. So, just trying to navigate time, to spend and appreciate every little moment that I have with my kids - not to get so caught up in trying to work so hard.”

“I will say the best thing that I learned is communication,” added Sham Jr. “I mean, my dad, even when he was playing in another country, he made sure to video call. Then when he did come home, he made sure he came and picked me up. So I think just having that constant communication - being able to do stuff like FaceTime and be there when you can be there,” he continued of how his father poured into him - the efforts he made to nurture their relationship despite demanding careers and parental responsibilities.