Brian Shaw was one of three people the Lakers said they interviewed for the coaching job, and the only one who was part of the Lakers family as an assistant coach. Yet as of Friday afternoon, 10 days after they decided to hire Mike Brown, Shaw still had not heard from them.

"It's a little strange, going from 11 years and five championships to essentially being out on the street," Shaw said in a phone interview Friday. "But I can feel good knowing that I did everything possible to represent the Laker organization as well as I could."

A loyal employee even to this strange end, Shaw would not comment on any details of his Lakers situation. He said he had been avoiding media interviews until I phoned him, and was reluctant to speak in anything but general terms.

"I have always held the Lakers in high standing, and I'm not going to change that now," he said.