Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (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 The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

over the course of his 14 seasons in the league.

Early life

Shaw grew up in Oakland, California with other future basketball stars such as Antonio Davis, Jason Kidd, 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 t ...

, as well as

Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell, also known as Waliyy Abdur Rahim (born September 10, 1968) is a former streetball player from Oakland, California. He was well known among San Francisco Bay Area basketball players in the late 1980s, but in spite of his c ...

. In his youth, he was a participant at the

East Oakland Youth Development Center East Oakland Youth Development Center (EOYDC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Oakland, California, United States. It opened in 1978. EOYDC works to develop the social and leadership capacities of youth and young adults (ages 5 to 24) to ...

, 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 Saint Mary's College of California is a Private college, private Catholic Church, Catholic college in Moraga, California. Established in 1863, it is affiliated with the Catholic Church and administered by the De La Salle Brothers. The college of ...

for his freshman and sophomore years of college, then transferred to UC Santa Barbara 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 The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

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,

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

, Portland Trail Blazers, and

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. He was a member of four squads that made

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

appearances: in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

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 ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, and

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

with Lakers (winning three NBA championships with the Lakers). He also played for the US national team in the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was held at the ...

, 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

in 1999, reuniting with former Orlando teammate

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

. He served as a backup to All-Star shooting guard

Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...

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 and the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

before facing the Portland Trail Blazers 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 The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

. 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

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 Philadelphia 7 ...

. The Lakers won a third title in the 2001–02 season before losing in the Western Conference Semifinals to the San Antonio Spurs 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 goals (out of 15 attempts) against the Milwaukee Bucks at the

Bradley Center The Bradley Center (also known as the BMO Harris Bradley Center under sponsorship agreements) was a multi-purpose arena located on the northwest corner of North Vel R. Phillips Ave. and West State Streets in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United ...

, finishing with 32 points. Starting in 1994, he was one-half of the popular "Shaw-Shaq Redemption" (named after '' The Shawshank Redemption''), an alley-oop from Shaw to

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 in 2000, held in

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

, Shaw received a key to the City of Oakland along with his fellow Oakland natives Jason Kidd and

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's retirement, but was ultimately passed over in favor of Mike Brown.

Indiana Pacers (2011–2013)

Shaw left the Lakers to join the

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 The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

, replacing former coach George Karl. 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'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 The NBA G League Ignite is a developmental basketball team in the NBA G League. Based in Henderson, Nevada, the team was designed to play exhibition games outside the G League's traditional scheduling as part of a one-year development program for e ...

. 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.

Head coaching record

, - , style="text-align:left;", Denver , style="text-align:left;", , 82 , , 36 , , 46 , , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Northwest , , — , , — , , — , , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;", Denver , style="text-align:left;", , 59 , , 20 , , 39 , , , , style="text-align:center;", (fired) , , — , , — , , — , , — , style="text-align:center;", — , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 141 , , 56 , , 85 , , , , , , — , , — , , — , , — , ,

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 Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

when he played for the Miami Heat. Shaw has three children with his wife, Nikki Shaw, who is a professional

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

. They met when he was signed as a free agent by the Orlando Magic in 1994 and they married in 1998.

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