Brian Shaw heads to Indiana Pacers as assistant coach – NBA Update
Former Los Angeles Lakers player and assistant coach Brian Shaw will work as an assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers next season, it has been learnt. This comes as the second coaching appointment for Indiana as they are already believed to have agreed to make Frank Vogel their permanent head coach. The announcement by President Larry Bird is expected soon.
The recruitment of Brian Shaw as his assistant is believed to have been a key factor in the hiring of Vogel. Brian Shaw was coveted by a lot of teams this offseason and was in the frame for some of the head coaching slots available.
Shaw learned the game as a player and then as assistant coach under the legendary Phil Jackson. Jackson was one of the most successful NBA coaches of all time and upon his retirement it was believed that Brian Shaw could be chosen to replace him.
Shaw knew the triangle offense, which had brought unprecedented success to the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers, and he was also familiar with the Lakers personnel. Senior Los Angeles players including veteran point guard Derek Fisher and superstar Kobe Bryant publicly voiced their support for Brian Shaw to get the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job.
However, the Lakers management decided otherwise, hiring former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown instead. Brian Shaw’s future at the Lakers was in doubt since then but the recent hiring of former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach and Detroit Pistons head coach John Kuester as the lead assistant to Mike Brown was seen as the final nail in Shaw’s Lakers coffin.
It therefore comes as no surprise that the assistant will be moving to Indiana; however it is believed that Shaw was hoping to get a head coaching stint rather than another assistant slot. Brian Shaw’s name had been linked with a few of the head coaching vacancies around the league but in the end he seems to have decided that the project in Indiana is worth it.
The Pacers are coming off the back of a topsy-turvy season where they struggled to the point that head coach Jim O’Brien was fired around the halfway mark. Frank Vogel was installed as the interim head coach and he immediately changed a lot of things at the Indiana franchise.
The Pacers seemed to click under the new coach, going 20-18 to end the regular season. They matched up against the best team in the regular season, the Chicago Bulls, for the first round of the playoffs and exited after giving Chicago a tough time.
With Brian Shaw now joining Frank Vogel on the sidelines for the Pacers, this young team looks to be headed in the right direction.
Tags: