Remembering the last time Brian Shaw had a head coaching job
On Wednesday, USA TODAY's Sam Amick reported that there was "mutual interest" between the Sacramento Kings and Brian Shaw, making Shaw a likely candidate to replace the recently-ousted George Karl.
A full calendar year and some change has passed since last Shaw was in the technical area, but because I am a thoughtful person and I care very deeply about each every one of you, I've taken the time to piece together a refresher on Shaw's most recent head coaching job, which was with the Denver Nuggets.
The following are real things that really happened in real life.
He tried to fix a Nuggets offense that wasn't really broken.
The year before Shaw showed up, the Nuggets won 57 games by playing smaller and ramping up the pace of the game, but Shaw wanted to rebuild their approach "from the inside out" and slow things down for more involved halfcourt sets. On the super solid cornerstone of JaVale McGee.
So Shaw effectively traded in an efficient hybrid offense for a sluggish, gas-guzzling traditional one.
He accused his own players of tanking.
I've heard of like, a cash-strapped player with a gambling problem shaving points, but an entire team of players that can be traded or released if they don't perform losing a bunch of games on purpose? Nah.
And yet, that's exactly what Shaw said his Nuggets were doing after a blowout loss to the Charlotte Hornets last January.
Bless his heart, he tried his hardest to relate to millennials.
Before a game against the Lakers last February, Rachel Nichols told the saddest story about a woefully out-of-touch Brian Shaw that had attempted to relate to his players by reading a book about millennials. I wanted to reach through the TV and give Shaw one of those hugs where you hold on a little longer than usual. The ones where you give your downtrodden friend a few re-assuring pats on the back, you know? Let him know things would be OK. So long as he never did anything that stupid again.
Not even a full minute later she told another story about how Shaw confiscated phones to regain control of the locker room and I turned on him.
You never touch a millennial's phone. Not without a head nod that's clearly affirmative or express written consent. There are rules. This is one of them.
He tried to rap a scouting report.
This is really just an extension of Shaw's doomed attempt to relate to his players, but it was so sad that I felt it needed to be addressed separately.
His players were literally counting down to the end of the season.
During another blowout loss, this time to the Utah Jazz, Denver Post reporter Chris Dempsey caught Nuggets players channelling '98 Playoffs Nick Van Exel to count down the end to their miserable season:
They lost by 22 that night to a very-sub-.500 Jazz team, and soon afterward, Denver gave Shaw the boot.
And thus concluded the Brian Shaw era in Denver. His legacy? Failing miserably to connect with a young team and airing out his players in the press instead of handling issues internally. Being in Sacramento under Vlade Divac with DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo in the ranks should just be oodles of fun.
