Long before Kam Patterson landed on Saturday Night Live and Caleb Gordon built his career in Christian rap, the two were high school teammates who both knew they were headed somewhere bigger.
Patterson shared the story on Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant podcast, recalling that he and Gordon were stuck on the bench for most of the season. Even then, Patterson said they were convinced basketball wasn’t going to be the thing that defined them.
“We came into practice, but we both didn’t play,” Patterson said. “Both didn’t play at all.”
Still, he said they saw something beyond the moment. Patterson remembered telling their coach, “I think we’re gonna be something in life though, bro.”
From there, the story takes a, uh, twisted, turn. Patterson said he told the coach he should get photos of the two of them and hang them in the gym one day so people would know they came from that school. Instead, the coach delivered a response Patterson clearly still hasn’t forgotten.
“’You know what? That’s a great idea,’” Patterson recalled him saying. “’I’m get two pictures of y’all, I’m gonna print them out, I’m gonna take them to the gun range, and I’m gonna shoot them until I’m [out of bullets]. And then get more bullets.’”
It’s an absurd line, but the story hits differently now. Patterson is a featured player on SNL. Gordon has become one of the more recognizable names in Christian hip-hop. What sounded like two benchwarmers talking crazy in high school now reads more like two kids who saw the future a little earlier than everyone else did.
