If you’re familiar with former Lakers players and coaching staff, Brian Shaw is rarely unheard of mainly because he has a great resume. If this is the case why has it been so difficult for Brian Shaw and other assistant coaches under Phil Jackson to find head coaching jobs in the NBA? It seemed to those around the league that Brian Shaw was getting prepped for the head coaching job for some time. Why was Shaw not hired and how come none of the other members of Phil Jackson’s coaching staff was considered to replace Jackson as the head coach of the Lakers?
With most of the NBA off-season news topics centered on the NBA lockout and negotiations between the players and owners, the bitter end between Brian Shaw and the Lakers has recently resurfaced.
It is no secret that Brian Shaw is one of the most qualified candidates for a head coaching job in the NBA. He has an impressive resume including 15 years as a player in Europe and the NBA, as well as being a part of Phil Jackson’s coaching staff in L.A. where he was able to build strong relationships with big time players like Kobe Bryant, while meshing attitudes and personalities from across the spectrum in order to create championship caliber teams.
“I talked to him last week,” Shaw said of Jackson, according to SportsIllustrated.cnn.com. “I said to him, ‘I never realized how many detractors you have out there.’ Because when I go out on head-coaching interviews and if I mention the word ‘triangle,’ it makes general managers and owners cringe. They don’t want to hear about the triangle offense, they don’t want to hear about Phil Jackson. It was funny, even when I came here to Indiana and I sat down with them, jokingly Larry [Bird, the Pacers’ president] was like, ‘I don’t want to hear anything about that triangle bull****.’ And that’s kind of the attitude that everybody has.”
This is the type of attitude that is believed to be the reason behind the lack of interest in the “Jackson Disciples” and the triangle offense, which defined Phil Jackson’s career as a head coach. Both of Phil Jackson’s previous assistants, Jim Cleamons with the Mavericks from 1996-98 and Kurt Rambis with the Timberwolves from 2009-11, tried and failed to install the triangle offense with other organizations.
Reported by SportsIllustrated.cnn.com, “I interviewed Brian four years ago and we talked about that,” Bird said. “He said, ‘I like the triangle, it’s great, but you’ve got to have the right players to run it. I would use part of it, but it’s according to the talent that we have. You’ve got to have the right guys.'”
Despite the overall opinions of Brian Shaw and the other “Jackson Disciples,” Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant thought as well as other teammates thought Shaw was ready for the head coaching job of the Los Angeles Lakers. Although, Ron Artest has been quoted saying the “failure against Dallas was a reason why Shaw did not get the job.”
Brian Shaw says he was not told anything why he did not get the job and found out he wasn’t getting the Lakers gig when he saw ESPN announce Mike Brown’s hiring.
Shaw says, “The powers making the decision needed a new voice…that is what I was told.” It’s hard to imagine rocking the boat after Shaw has spent twelve years with the Lakers, eleven with Phil Jackson, and went to the Finals seven times while winning five championships.
It is unfortunate but this seems to be the trend in the business. Brian Shaw says he found out he was traded from the Celtics to Miami from a voicemail on his answering machine. “Sometimes the business does not go according to protocol,” says Shaw.
All in all, Shaw believed his overall experience coaching combined with knowledge of the triangle offense would help him become the Lakers’ new coach when Jackson retired after their disappointing loss to the Mavericks in the playoffs. Instead, Jackson was concerned for Shaw’s future in L.A., because Jim Buss was taking control of the Lakers from his father, Jerry Buss, the most successful owner of the NBA’s modern era.
Next Page: Distancing Shaw from Jackson
“Phil let me know going into the interview with the Lakers for me to almost disassociate myself from him, that anything that I said about him or the triangle system would hurt me because of his lack of relationship with Jimmy Buss,” Shaw said. “So when I did interview, that was the point that I tried to make about the fact that I had played for Phil only my last four years, and that I played for all of these other coaches.”
“There were some things that were said that I won’t really get into,” Shaw said. “It was kind of bashing Phil Jackson, that I just refused to just sit and listen to. And that’s when I said, ‘Hey, I love Phil Jackson. I appreciate everything that we’ve all been able to accomplish under him. We’ve all prospered since he’s been the coach here.’ ”
Told of Shaw’s comments, Kupchak said he and the Lakers will always appreciate Jackson’s 11 seasons. “Phil and I have a great relationship — I was with him two days ago and we sat down for an hour a week ago,” Kupchak said. “We had been to seven NBA Finals and won five Finals with him, and this organization is eternally grateful to have had him as a coach.
“I don’t know what you’re referring to what took place in that meeting. I don’t even want to speculate. Phil has been very, very good to this organization and city, and we are very, very grateful to have had him as coach. I consider him as a friend and somebody I owe a lot to personally.”
But Shaw says Kupchak wasn’t the one speaking poorly of Jackson.
“The negativity toward Phil didn’t come from Mitch,” Shaw said. “It was more from Jimmy Buss just doubting some of the decisions he made in terms of how he was handling and running the team and coaching the team on the sidelines, and sitting down instead of getting up. People look at coaches and want them to pace up and down the sidelines and bark instructions to the guys. That’s not Phil’s demeanor. That was viewed as a negative in my estimation — but it won him five championships with the Lakers and six with the Bulls, and that was his coaching style when he won, so why was that not acceptable now?”
“Jim Cleamons is coaching in China right now,” Shaw said. “Frank Hamblen, a longtime assistant to Jackson is retired. I ended up coming here, but the equipment manager, Rudy Garciduenas, who had been there for 28 years — he got let go. Assistant GM Ronnie Lester, was hired by Jerry West, had been there for 25 years — he got let go. And a lot of other people on the basketball operations side who had been there through the Showtime era and the championships when I was playing, and even the championships from the time when I was coaching, for no reason they are let go. And that’s the sad part of it and the part that is hard to understand when you say we want a new voice, we want a different direction or we want to change the culture around here. I’m like, 29 other teams in the league would love to have this kind of culture and direction, to go to the Finals seven times in 11 years and win five of them.”
“It’s the weirdest thing. It’s like we should be ashamed, when it should be the other way.”
There is a feeling that the Lakers staff got cast aside and should hide, “Phil is the best, not arguably, whose coaching staff almost seems like they were leopards and nobody wanted to touch us, which is hard for me to understand.” There is a feeling that the guys from Phil’s staff are not as sought after as they should be. For reasons to remain unknown GMs cringe when Phil Jackson’s name is brought up in head coaching job interviews and the triangle offense is mentioned. However Shaw feels confident, “I won’t shy away from the fact that I was a part of the Lakers coaching staff.” The Lakers coaching staff has over 30 championship rings and has had more success than any coaching squad the past year throughout the league.
Shaw says he was disappointed he did not get the Lakers head coaching job but is thankful to have learned from the great Phil Jackson and understands the nature of the business and that it was time to move on after spending the last 12 years with the Lakers.
Larry Bird reached out to Brian Shaw to offer him the job with the Indiana Pacers associate head coach. All in all, former Lakers assistant Brian Shaw has found a new home as the associate head coach of the Indiana Pacers. He will work alongside Pacers coach Frank Vogel, a man he knows from their days on the Lakers staff together during the 2005-06 season.