Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO — One less thing for the Lakers to worry about next season, when they’ll only be expected to go 82-0 with Andrew Bynum on this team: Brian Shaw isn’t going to coach Shaquille O’Neal with the Phoenix Suns.

Shaw told me after practice today that he got word from Suns general manager Steve Kerr that Phoenix is going in another direction.

“He wanted to have a coach that had experience in terms of being a head coach,” Shaw said.

That would’ve been something for the Lakers to deal with: The triangle-expert Shaw using all his personal and professional tricks against the Lakers and to get the most out of O’Neal, who did lobby for Shaw to get the job. O’Neal, teammates with Shaw in Orlando and with the Lakers, told The Arizona Republic: “B-Shaw taught me how to be a leader and win championships.”

It’s obvious Shaw, who also interviewed with Chicago recently for that job, will be getting to run his own show soon. Unless he succeeds Phil Jackson here, Shaw’s departure from the Lakers will be costly. He’s really great at conveying to the younger players what needs to get done and he’s also one of the people in the organization who can put it plainly to Kobe Bryant, when necessary.

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