Brian Shaw can cement his legacy as Denver’s biggest jerk ever
“ESPN’s Stephen A Smith, a giant turd of a human being, reported on ESPN radio on Friday that Shaw would like to come to the big apple and that he is looking for holes in his contract that could potentially allow him to make the move.”
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When Jim Leyland walked away from the Colorado Rockies in 1999 after just one season as their manager, with two years still left on his deal, he joined the ranks of biggest ever jerks in Denver sports history. A decade or so later he was joined by Carmelo Anthony who, despite playing out his rookie contract in Denver and agreeing to an extension that kept him in Nuggets colors for over seven years, left town an enemy after forcing a trade that included local favorite Chauncey Billups.
Newish Nuggets coach Brian Shaw has an opportunity to eclipse both Leyland and Anthony to become the single biggest Denver sports jerk ever. The New York Knicks, the same team to which Carmelo Anthony absconded, is reportedly interested in hiring Shaw to be their coach. Shaw, despite public comments to the contrary, is rumored to be mulling the Knicks’ offer.
Brian Shaw came up as an assistant coach with the LA Lakers under then head coach Phil Jackson, the winningest head coach in the history of the NBA. Jackson is now the General Manager in New York and presumably wants his old right hand man to rejoin him and help him reshape the struggling New York franchise. ESPN’s Stephen A Smith, a giant turd of a human being, reported on ESPN radio on Friday that Shaw would like to come to the big apple and that he is looking for holes in his contract that could potentially allow him to make the move.
Is Stephen A Smith correct? Shaw has gone to great lengths to convince the Denver sports media that he is quite content to stay in Colorado. The Knicks opportunity does sound like it would be tempting, however, to a young up-and-coming NBA coach with his entire future ahead of him.
In order for Shaw to vacate the Nuggets the Knicks would need to provide compensation in the form of players or draft picks. Were the Knicks to secure a high pick in the NBA draft it’s possible that the Nuggets could offer Shaw up for that pick in the hopes that a premier player would be of greater value to the franchise than a young head coach.
Shaw is under contract with the Nuggets for two more seasons and the Nuggets have an option to lock him in for a fourth season. But since when have contracts meant anything in pro sports? Where there’s a will there’s a way for any player or coach to break a contract.
If Shaw were to abandon Denver he would leave the Nuggets reeling. His first season as their coach saw the Nuggets miss the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade. Shaw laid down the law and made it clear that the Nuggets would be a different kind of team than they had been under George Karl. Andre Miller was shipped out after refusing to play for Shaw while other players flourished under his tutelage. The Nuggets are pointed in a new direction. To lose their coach now and be forced to start learning a new set of rules and a new system could set the franchise back for years.
If Brian Shaw were to leave for the Knicks he would cement his legacy as the biggest ever jerk in Denver sports history.
