Brian Shaw leaving the Lakers?

It appears suspiciously political (gosh what isn't) but Mike Brown's hiring as Phil Jackson's replacement as the head coach of the Lakers apparently means Oakland native Brian Shaw will be departing the organization.

J.A. Adande offers a column on the doings in Laker land.

We'll keep you posted on where Shaw touches down next. How about Golden State?

Brian Shaw to interview with Golden State

Here's Marcus Thompson on the Golden State Warrior interest in Laker assistant Brian Shaw, born and bred in Oakland.

Meet Brian Shaw

Brian Shaw is a Laker assistant coach (and most likely the next head coach) but his roots are in northern California, Oakland in particular. An alumnus of Bishop O'Dowd, Shaw was recently interviewed by David Aldridge and it's must-watch video. Go here.

Oakland's Brian Shaw

Here's Shaw with a very young Aalim Moor

It's going to happen sooner than later -- the retirement of Phil Jackson and Brian Shaw's ascension to coaching the Lakers. Most either don't know or have forgotten that Shaw is an Oakland product.

Lakers Q&A: Brian Shaw interested in succeeding Phil Jackson as Lakers coach
Mark Medina
Los Angeles Times
February 1, 2011

This is the fourth post in an occasional series of Q&As with a member of the Lakers organization. Below is a recent conversation with Lakers Assistant Coach Brian Shaw, who's in charge of game preparations for contests against the Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls.

You told [the L.A. Times' Mike Bresnahan] that this isn't something you're thinking about now, but obviously there's a strong possibility you'll be considered to take over as Lakers head coach. What kind of qualities do you think you'd bring as a head coach if that opportunity came up?

Like you prefaced it, I don't really think about it at this point because there're so many unknown things and factors. There could be a lockout and not be a season. Phil may decide to come back again. I'm sure every coach that's out there, big-name coaches and otherwise, would come running for the job. Who wouldn't want to be the head coach of the Lakers? I don't really consume my thoughts with that.

I would like to think that, if it did happen, [one of] the qualities I would bring is patience. From being around Phil and watching how he deals with the players. ... He has tenure and he has championships and experience that players respect because they know he's been there and done it more than anybody has. He's dealt with personalities, very strong personalities both in Chicago and here and been able to make it work.

I sit back and watch how he deals with [players and] how his relationships are with his players. The game I think has evolved. It's less X's and O's. I've played basketball and have been coaching basketball long enough now to understand everything that goes on on the court. What it's evolved more into now is managing different personalities and egos and all the other stuff that goes with it. When Phil played and, early on, when I played, you didn't have guys doing reality shows, guys with cellphones, pagers and tweeting and guys with their whole bodies tattooed and crazy hairstyles that are part of the game now. You didn't have so many young guys that came out of high school or one year removed from college. Now, a lot of coaching goes into being able to deal with all of those types of issues, and a lot of the spotlight is taken off the X's and O's and who can make this mix of guys work and control these personalities.

I presume it's fair to say, though, that if they approached you about the job, you'd be interested?

No question (laughs). No question about it. It would be a dream for anybody. I consider this one of the top three jobs in all of professional sports. If you're the head coach of the Lakers, it's probably the best job in basketball. If you're the manager of the New York Yankees -- or in football, arguably [it's] the coach of the Cowboys, they say that's America's team. Those three jobs are probably the most prestigious and sought-after jobs in all of sports...

Go here for the remainder.

Brian Shaw is well positioned

Timing and positioning are often factors leading to success or its counterpart. With that in mind, here's a feature on Brian Shaw of the Lakers -- Shaw was born in Oakland and graduated from Bishop O'Dowd. Here's an early photo of him with a very young Aalim Moor III, who is now at San Jose State University.

Lakers' Shaw should stay if Jackson goes
Kevin Ding
Orange County Register
August 26, 2010

A year from now, Brian Shaw probably won't get to vacation in Cabo in relative anonymity anymore.

So well aware of that is he that Shaw is lying low as best as he can these days, determined not to bring extra attention to himself as one of the biggest winners of this tumultuous NBA offseason.

Shaw could've become head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers but had the restraint to insist on a timetable to ensure the job would not be a glorified janitorial position: cleaning up the mess LeBron James left.

Given that Shaw is connected to ­ and mostly beloved by ­ nearly every person in the NBA, past and present, Shaw had more than an inkling James wouldn't be in Cleveland for him to teach. So Shaw passed on what indeed wound up being the worst job in the NBA: We're talking about disheartened fan base, wacko owner, bad city, bad arena and the horrible double negative of a bad team with old players.

Middling coaching jobs come along pretty often, and Shaw has interviewed for them often. Kurt Rambis wound up taking one of them in Minnesota. Byron Scott took this one in Cleveland...

Go here for the remainder.