Coach Brian Shaw fired by 20-39 Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets have fired coach Brian Shaw, a person with knowledge of the decision confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the firing had not yet been announced.

Shaw was in his second season with the Nuggets, who went 57-25 under George Karl the season before making the surprising coaching change and overhauled the organization in a way that clearly hasn't panned out. The Nuggets, who lost general manager Masai Ujiri to the Toronto Raptors during that same summer as well, went 36-46 last season under Shaw and are 20-39 this season.


Shaw had spent most of the season openly sharing the frustration he had with his players, and it seemed there was an internal acknowledgement from management that he had every reason to be upset.
But Nuggets President Josh Kroenke and general manager Tim Connelly clearly reached their breaking point, and the search will now begin for Shaw's replacement. Shaw waited a long time to get his first head-coaching opportunity, having spent his post-playing years with the Los Angeles Lakers (2003 to 2011) as a scout and assistant coach under Phil Jackson before joining Frank Vogel with the Indiana Pacers as associate head coach. The Denver Post first reported that Shaw had been fired.
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