When the legendary Phil Jackson decided to call it a career after retiring from the Los Angeles Lakers, many people expected assistant coach Brian Shaw to run the sidelines. Shaw had the backing of several players and his experience with the Triangle Offense would have worked wonders with team.
However, the team decided to hire Mike Brown instead and Shaw eventually found his way to Indiana. Fast forward to the 2013-14 season, and the Lakers are being coached by Mike D’Antoni and Shaw finally got his head coaching gig. The former Lakers assistant and player is now the head man for the Nuggets and he spoke to the Denver Post about his departure from the Lakers.
“Regardless of how it ended, I don’t have any regrets,” Shaw said. “Those were some of the best times that I experienced. I will always cherish them.”
Asked if there were any hard feelings lingering now, two years after being passed over for the head coaching job with the Lakers after Jackson’s retirement in 2011, Shaw said: “No, no. You know, it’s the nature of the business. I found that out pretty quickly. I preach to our players to get on to the next play; let that last play go, and I try to do the same thing, too. Every decision is not my decision. It’s not going to work out the way I want it to work out. So I’ve just got to move on.”
Shaw and the Nuggets faced off against the Lakers in an exhibition game, and it certainly was a big win for the rookie coach as he beat his former team in Staples Center. The Nuggets have a talented roster and it will be interesting to see how Shaw handles his first head coaching job.
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