The Los Angeles Lakers hired Mike Brown as their new head coach in late May as Phil Jackson's replacement, passing over longtime assistant -- and Triangle offense disciple -- Brian Shaw in the process. Unfortunately, the front office didn't tell Shaw about this until he watched Brown's introductory interview on ESPN.
Lakers Didn’t Tell Brian Shaw He Wasn’t Hired As Head Coach
Shaw doesn’t appear to be pleased by this, either, according to an interview he did on ESPN Radio.
"I wasn't really told anything," said Shaw, who had the public backing of players Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, among others, to take over for Jackson. "Unfortunately, I found about not getting the job and who was hired for the job on ESPN. I didn't really talk to anyone for about three weeks after that."
He had good reason to not talk to his former team, too, considering the way they passed him over despite his credentials and familiarity with the team.
“At that point, all the speculation and what I’ve heard, the powers making those decisions felt like the team needed a change of culture and a new voice, and head in a new direction,” Shaw said. “I thought that was kind of peculiar because in the 12 years I’d been there, all we had done was gone to the championship seven times and won five championships. I felt like there were 29 other teams in the league that would love to have that kind of culture and that kind of direction. ... But I didn’t expect anything to be handed to me.”
Shaw has since found himself as the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers under Frank Vogel, but it sounds like he thinks he deserved to stay in LA. In all reality, he may have been right, though it’s clearly too soon to tell.
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