Denver Nuggets fire Head Coach Brian Shaw
After a record of 56-85 in one and a half miserable seasons, the Denver Nuggets relieve Brian Shaw of his Head Coaching duties, manager Tim Connelly announced on Tuesday. He had to fill the big shoes of great Head Coach George Karl when he was appointed in Denver at the beginning of last season.
"I want to sincerely thank Brian for his time with our organization," Connelly said in a team release. "You won't find a better guy than Brian and he is one of the brightest basketball minds I've ever been around. Unfortunately things didn't go as we hoped, but we know with his basketball acumen that he has a very bright future ahead of him."
According to reports, there were complaints registered by Shaw regarding the professionalism and maturity of the some of the Nuggets’ players. These points do work in favor of Shaw nonetheless he couldn’t turn the situation around and showed no progress after a respectable amount of times as the Head Coach.
The team is currently placed 13th in the West with a record of 20-39 and is currently in the midst of a six-game losing streak. Shaw’s disappointing stint as a Head Coach in Denver leaves Steve Kerr, current Head Coach of the Golden State Warriors as the only shining star of the Phil Jackson Head Coaching tree.
| Coach | Win Percentage |
|---|---|
| Steve Kerr | .793 |
| Brian Shaw | .397 |
| Bill Cartwright | .338 |
| Jim Cleamons | .286 |
| Derek Fisher | .207 |
| Kurt Rambis | .195 |
In his absence, his assistant Melvin Hunt was named the interim Head Coach. Hunt is in his fifth season as an assistant with the franchise after working for five years as an assistant for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Despite the Nuggets not confirming on any reports, according to sources, former Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach Mike D’Antoni along with ESPN analyst Avery Johnson are front runners for the job.