Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
of the
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
(NBA). He could play both
guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison ...
positions, but was used primarily at
point guard over the course of his 14 seasons in the league.
Early life
Shaw grew up in
Oakland, California
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...
with other future basketball stars such as
Antonio Davis
Antonio Lee Davis (born October 31, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, and New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also playe ...
,
Jason Kidd
Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded as one of the greatest point guards a ...
, and
Gary Payton
Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played the point guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best known for his 13-year tenure with ...
, as well as
Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell.
In his youth, he was a participant at the
East Oakland Youth Development Center, a local community organization where he played basketball. He attended
Westlake Middle School and then
Bishop O'Dowd High School
Bishop O'Dowd High School is a Catholic, co-educational, college preparatory school in Oakland, California, administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland and named for the late auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, Jam ...
in Oakland. For college, he attended
St. Mary's College of California for his freshman and sophomore years of college, then transferred to
UC Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
for his junior and senior seasons. In his senior year, he was named Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) player of the year as he led the Gauchos to their first-ever
NCAA tournament berth.
Playing career
He was taken with the 24th overall pick by the
Boston Celtics in the
1988 NBA draft
The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...
. In 1988, Shaw signed a one-year contract with the Celtics. In 1989, Shaw signed a two-year contract to play with an Italian team,
Il Messaggero Roma. At the end of January 1990, Shaw signed a 5-year deal with the Celtics. In June of that year, Shaw told the Celtics he planned to play for Il Messaggero during the 1990–91 season. The ensuing contract dispute, Boston Celtics v. Brian Shaw, which Shaw lost, became a relatively famous sports law case and is read in many law school contracts classes.
During his NBA career, he played for the Celtics,
Miami Heat
The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...
,
Orlando Magic,
Golden State Warriors,
Philadelphia 76ers,
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
, and
Los Angeles Lakers. He was a member of four squads that made
NBA Finals appearances: in
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
with the Magic and in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
,
2001, and
2002 with Lakers (winning three NBA championships with the Lakers).
He also played for the
US national team in the
1986 FIBA World Championship, winning the gold medal. In the final between the United States and Soviet Union, Shaw hit a key three-pointer in the closing seconds. The American team won the game by two points.
Los Angeles Lakers
Shaw joined the
Los Angeles Lakers in 1999, reuniting with former Orlando teammate
Shaquille O'Neal. He served as a backup to All-Star shooting guard
Kobe Bryant throughout the season and playoffs as the Lakers had the league's best record winning 67 games. Shaw played in all 22 of the Lakers' playoff games as they advanced past the
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...
and the
Phoenix Suns before facing the
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...
in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers took a 3–1 lead in the series before the Trail Blazers won games 5 and 6 to tie the series at three games apiece. In game 7, the Trail Blazers lead 75-60 in the fourth quarter. The Blazers shot 5 for 23 in the final quarter as the Lakers made a comeback bolstered by two clutch three-point baskets by Shaw. The Lakers won the game and made the NBA Finals to face the
Indiana Pacers. Shaw started in game 3 in place of the injured Bryant, and then played critical minutes in the Lakers overtime win in game 4. The Lakers won the series 4–2, and Shaw won his first NBA championship.
Shaw continued to back up Bryant in the 2000–01 season, but started a total of 28 games. He once again played a key role for the Lakers as they steamrolled through the playoffs and defeated the
Philadelphia 76ers 4–1 in the
2001 NBA Finals
The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2000–01 season. The defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers took on the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphi ...
. The Lakers won a third title in the 2001–02 season before losing in the Western Conference Semifinals to the
San Antonio Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...
in the 2002–03 season, and Shaw then retired following the season.
Legacy
While a member of the Heat, on April 8, 1993, Shaw hit a then-NBA record ten
three-point field goal
A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...
s (out of 15 attempts) against the
Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...
at the
Bradley Center, finishing with 32 points. Starting in 1994, he was one-half of the popular "Shaw-Shaq Redemption" (named after ''
The Shawshank Redemption
''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), w ...
''), an alley-oop from Shaw to
Shaquille O'Neal that was popular with fans in both Orlando and Los Angeles (Shaw and O'Neal were also Laker teammates). In an interview with ''The Miami Herald'' in 2007, O'Neal claimed that the teammate he had most respected in his career was Shaw.
On
NBA All-Star Weekend The National Basketball Association All-Star Weekend is a weekend festival held every February during the middle of the NBA regular season that consists of a variety of basketball events, exhibitions, and performances culminating in the NBA All-Star ...
in 2000, held in
Oakland, Shaw received a key to the City of Oakland along with his fellow Oakland natives
Jason Kidd
Jason Frederick Kidd (born March 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Regarded as one of the greatest point guards a ...
and
Gary Payton
Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played the point guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best known for his 13-year tenure with ...
.
Coaching career
Los Angeles Lakers (2003–2011)
Shaw retired following the
2002–03 season. He worked for the Lakers as an Oakland-based scout during the
2003–04 season. He was appointed assistant coach of the Lakers during the
2004–05 season. He was considered for the Lakers head coaching job following
Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...
's retirement, but was ultimately passed over in favor of
Mike Brown.
Indiana Pacers (2011–2013)
Shaw left the Lakers to join the
Indiana Pacers as an assistant coach. He was later promoted to associate head coach. Shaw was a highly respected assistant coach by other NBA coaches as well as the media.
Denver Nuggets (2014–2015)
After spending two years on the Pacers' bench, on June 25, 2013, Shaw was announced as the head coach of the
Denver Nuggets, replacing former coach
George Karl
George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and player. After spending five years as a player for the San Antonio Spurs, Karl became an assistant with the team before getting the chance to become a ...
. On March 3, 2015, he was fired by the Nuggets after compiling a record of 56–85 (.397) in just under two seasons.
Return to the Lakers (2016–2019)
In June 2016, Shaw returned to the Los Angeles Lakers as the team's newest associate head coach under new head coach
Luke Walton
Luke Theodore Walton (born March 28, 1980) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 10 seasons in the NBA as a f ...
's coaching staff.
NBA G League Ignite (2020–2021)
On June 10, 2020, Shaw was named as the inaugural head coach of the
G League Ignite. He led the team to an 8–8 record and a playoff berth but stepped down from the role after the season.
Los Angeles Clippers (2021–present)
On September 24, 2021, Shaw was announced as an assistant coach for the
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...
.
Head coaching record
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Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
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Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
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Personal life
On June 26, 1993, both of Shaw's parents and his sister were killed in a car accident in Nevada. His sister's daughter survived the crash and Shaw, with help from his aunt, helped raise her.
Shaw reportedly dated
Madonna when he played for the Miami Heat. Shaw has three children with his wife, Nikki Shaw, who is a professional
chef. They met when he was signed as a free agent by the Orlando Magic in 1994 and they married in 1998.
See also
*
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Brian
1966 births
Living people
1986 FIBA World Championship players
African-American basketball coaches
African-American basketball players
American expatriate basketball people in Italy
American men's basketball players
Basketball coaches from California
Basketball players from Oakland, California
Boston Celtics draft picks
Boston Celtics players
Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games
Denver Nuggets head coaches
FIBA World Championship-winning players
Golden State Warriors players
Indiana Pacers assistant coaches
Los Angeles Clippers assistant coaches
Los Angeles Lakers assistant coaches
Los Angeles Lakers players
Miami Heat players
NBA G League Ignite coaches
Orlando Magic players
Pallacanestro Virtus Roma players
Philadelphia 76ers players
Portland Trail Blazers players
Point guards
Saint Mary's Gaels men's basketball players
Shooting guards
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball players
United States men's national basketball team players