One of the more-tenured coaches around the NBA, Brian Shaw has spent the last 15 years patrolling the sidelines for a number of franchises and, most recently, the G League Ignite. That team was comprised of players opting to spend a season in the G League as opposed to college, highlighted by Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga.
When discussing Green on a recent radio interview on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland, Shaw compared Green, one of the top prospects in the draft, to Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and many other players he’s coached (h/t RocketsWire):
“I’ve been around some very, very good players that came in the league around his age. Obviously played with and coached Kobe Bryant. Helped develop Paul George as a coach when I was with Indiana when he first came in the league. Andrew Bynum straight out of high school with the Lakers. Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball and the guys we had with the Lakers.
Those players that are special players, they have this “it” factor that you hear people talk about. He has “it.” He has a knack for being able to figure things out on the fly. He has the mentality that he’s competitive and wants to win at everything.”
Shaw spent three seasons as the associate head coach for the Lakers under Luke Walton, coaching Ingram for two of those seasons and Ball for one. It’s noteworthy that Shaw speaks so highly of Ball and Ingram as well as he’s not always spoken in that way of past players.
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