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If you missed it, below are selected quotes from our interview Friday afternoon with former Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw. While he clearly was disappointed by not getting L.A.'s head coaching gig, Shaw seemed just as disappointed he heard the news of Mike Brown's good fortune on ESPN long before anyone in the organization spoke with him personally.
A partial transcription of his comments is below.
"Our coaching staff had over 30 championship rings. We, by far, had more success than any staff in the last 12 years that I've been here in L.A. I'm proud of the fact that I was able to play for Phil Jackson, the fact that I was able to coach under him and sit next to him on the bench, and learn and just soak up everything I could from that man. Just to feel like having all that experience and all the success and all those championships, that everybody that was on that staff kind of felt like we were out on the street, with nowhere to go. He's a guy who is not arguably, but is the best, and the winningest, and the most successful coach in the history of professional sports, whose coaching staff it almost seems like we were lepers, and we had the plague, and nobody wanted to touch us. That's hard for me to understand.
You look at Gregg Popovich and his staff, and the guys that have worked for that San Antonio organization, and getting jobs, and they're always at the front of the list and what have you. Then you have Phil Jackson, who has won all that he's won, and his staff has been with him a long time, that don't get the same opportunities, that don't get looked at the same way ...
Just from me going around doing head-coaching interviews, it's almost like I can't even affiliate myself. If I go into an interview with another team, even when I interviewed for the Lakers, talking about Phil Jackson or talking about his triangle offense ... I see the faces of general managers and owners cringe when I bring up his name and his offense, and I don't understand that, but I'm not ashamed of it. I'm proud of the fact that I played for him, and I coached under him, and that I was able to accomplish all of the success and gain all the experience that I was able to gain under him. I'm not going to duck my head or shy away from the fact that I was affiliated with Phil Jackson. That's also the same reason why, or at least a big part of the reason why I'm not still with the Lakers, and neither of the other coaches -- Jim Cleamons and Frank Hamblen -- why we're not there, either."
You look at Gregg Popovich and his staff, and the guys that have worked for that San Antonio organization, and getting jobs, and they're always at the front of the list and what have you. Then you have Phil Jackson, who has won all that he's won, and his staff has been with him a long time, that don't get the same opportunities, that don't get looked at the same way ...
Just from me going around doing head-coaching interviews, it's almost like I can't even affiliate myself. If I go into an interview with another team, even when I interviewed for the Lakers, talking about Phil Jackson or talking about his triangle offense ... I see the faces of general managers and owners cringe when I bring up his name and his offense, and I don't understand that, but I'm not ashamed of it. I'm proud of the fact that I played for him, and I coached under him, and that I was able to accomplish all of the success and gain all the experience that I was able to gain under him. I'm not going to duck my head or shy away from the fact that I was affiliated with Phil Jackson. That's also the same reason why, or at least a big part of the reason why I'm not still with the Lakers, and neither of the other coaches -- Jim Cleamons and Frank Hamblen -- why we're not there, either."
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