Brian Shaw was fired Tuesday at head coach of the Nuggets. (Getty)
The Denver Nuggets fired head coach Brian Shaw on Tuesday.
The Nuggets, in the middle of a six-game losing streak, were just 20-39.
Denver has fired coach Brian Shaw, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
This was the 48-year-old’s first head coaching job. He was an assistant with the Lakers (2005-11) and the Pacers (2011-13).
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Shaw Was 56-85 In 1+ Seasons With Denver
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As stated above, the Nuggets were off to a 20-39 start this season, which has them 26 1/2 games behind Western Conference leader Golden State. Denver is also 12 1/2 games out for the final playoff spot. It won’t happen this year, as it didn’t last year.
In Shaw’s first season in Denver, the Nuggets went 36-46, missing the playoffs and finishing 4th in the Northwest Division.
2. Melvin Hunt Will Serve as the Interim Coach
Melvin Hunt, left, is the Nuggets interim coach. (Getty)
Assistant Melvin Hunt was named the interim coach. Hunt, who is in his fifth season with Denver, has also coached with the Cavaliers, Lakers and Rockets.
Hunt played at Baylor from 1987-91 and was a three-year starter.
The Nuggets host the Bucks Tuesday night.
3. The Nuggets Caused a Little Controversy Over a Timeout Huddle Break
The Nuggets broke a huddle coming out of a timeout in last week’s home loss to the Jazz with a chant of “1-2-3 … Six weeks!” The internet exploded with theories claiming the chant was referring to six weeks until the end of the Nuggets’ dreadful season.
Shaw denied that it had anything to do with the end of the season. He told reporters in the postgame press conference:
The comment that the players made when they got together and said ‘1, 2, 3, six weeks!’ was the players saying ‘This is the end of the six weeks, we’re going to get a win tonight on our home court and break the six-week losing spell on our home court.’ Not six weeks that it’s the end of the season. Now, coincidentally it does happen to be a little over six weeks from then, that it’s the end of the season. But I think our players and the Denver Nuggets as a whole were misrepresented in how that was reported.
4. Shaw Is a 3-time NBA Champion as a Player
Brian Shaw won 3 NBA titles while playing with the Lakers. (Getty)
Playing alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant with the Lakers in the early 2000s, Shaw and his teammates won three NBA titles – in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 7.0 points, 4.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game over a 14-season career.
Shaw retired following the 2002-03 season. He also played with the Celtics, Heat, Magic, Warriors, 76ers and Trail Blazers. He was drafted in the first round (24th overall) of the 1988 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.
Shaw then won 2 titles as an assistant with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010.
5. He Lost His Parents & Sister In a 1993 Car Accident
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Shaw tragically lost his parents and sister in a car accident in Nevada on June 26, 1993.
His sister’s daughter survived the crash and Shaw helped raise her.
Shaw married wife Nikki, who is a professional chef, in 1998. The couple has two children.
