Los Angeles Lakers NBA basketball team’s owner Jerry Buss (R) and his son Vice President of Basketball Operations Jim Buss listen at a news conference to announce new head coach Mike Brown in Los Angeles, California, May 31, 2011. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT BASKETBALL)
Brian Shaw, who many thought was the heir apparent to Phil Jackson, says he found out that he didn’t get the Laker head coaching job by hearing the news on TV.
Shaw, in an interview with Andy and Brian Kamenetzky on “The Mason & Ireland Show” on 710 ESPN Radio on Friday, said he first learned that Mike Brown had been hired as the Lakers coach during a television interview with Brown on ESPN at halftime of Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.
“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.”
Just this week, Shaw was hired by the Indiana Pacers to be their associate head coach. 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.
Well, it’s good to see Shaw land on his feet, but…ouch. The Laker organization seems to be transforming under showrunner Jim Buss. Given the role he played in back-to-back championships, it seems like the franchise could at the very least notify Shaw of the decision before the news broke on ESPN.
Stay classy, L.A.
