Brian Shaw believed his experience in the triangle -- supplemented by his understanding of other systems -- would help him become the Lakers new coach when Phil Jackson retired following their second-round sweep by the eventual champion Mavericks. Instead, Jackson was concerned for Shaws future in L.A., because Jim Buss was taking control of the Lakers from his father, Jerry Buss, the most successful owner of the NBAs modern era. 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. They all met at the home of Jerry Buss, where Shaw was interviewed by both Jerry and Jim Buss, along with general manager Mitch Kupchak. There were some things that were said that I wont really get into, Shaw said. It was kind of bashing Phil Jackson, that I just refused to just sit and listen to. And thats when I said, Hey, I love Phil Jackson. I appreciate everything that weve all been able to accomplish under him. Weve all prospered since hes been the coach here. The negativity toward Phil didnt 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. Thats not Phils 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? Shaw said he never heard back from the Lakers even after Mike Brown was hired. I didnt get for three weeks after they hired Mike Brown. And I was still protecting them, because when reporters were calling me to find out what happened and how did they let you know they were going in a different direction -- they never did let me know. Shaw viewed his treatment as part of the larger trend of layoffs throughout the Lakers basketball department. 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 thats 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. Im 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. Shaw simply cannot understand why his experience with Jackson wasnt viewed as a strength. I love the triangle and I love Phil Jackson, and I respect him and I appreciate everything that I was able to accomplish under him, Shaw said. But Im not him. And so we did feel like we were lepers or something. I think somebody said there were 30 championship rings within the coaching staff of the Lakers, and then basically the whole staff is out on the street. Being affiliated and associated with Phil Jackson was to our detriment. And I dont understand how it could be like that. Any iconic coach who has accomplished as much as he has, I think always has had the ability to set up whoever is on the staff to continue the transition smoothly. When Jerry Sloan left [the Jazz], Tyrone Corbin, who was on his staff, took over. If [Spurs coach] Gregg Popovich was to leave, one of his guys would be there. When Pat Riley left the Lakers, Randy Pfund and whoever else came next, they were under him. When Pat Riley left New York, Jeff Van Gundy was his guy. And in this situation, the Lakers basically said anything associated and affiliated with Phil Jackson, we dont want anything to do with it anymore. Its the weirdest thing. Its like we should be ashamed, when it should be the other way. Two weeks after he heard of Browns impending hire, Shaw said he received a voicemail from Jerry Buss. One week after hearing that message, Shaw received a visit from Kupchak. Shaw said he did most of the talking in order to emphasize that he wasnt questioning the Lakers decision to hire Brown, and to let Kupchak know that Shaw had been trying to protect the organization by not publicizing the Lakers neglect of him. Personally, I dont have anything against Mitch, and he apologized for how everything was handled, Shaw said. I made it very clear that I was not very happy with the way that I was handled, especially having to shield all of the requests for interviews because I didnt want it to come off the wrong way. I know Ronnie Lester, when he did an interview he kind of blasted the [organization] -- theres a whole lot of stuff that a whole lot of people wanted to say, and Ronnie said some stuff that needed to be said. But at that time, because it was still so new and so raw, if I would have got started [talking publicly], it probably would have been bad. Dr. Buss did call and leave a message saying that his son is in control now, and he has to let him make whatever decisions that he makes. He [Jerry] said that I was still one of his favorites, and that he was sure that I would be OK going forward, Shaw said.
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 06:34:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015