Denver Nuggets Fire Head Coach Brian Shaw

Photo Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

Photo Credit: Jae C. Hong / Associated Press

The Denver Nuggets have decided to relieve head coach Brian Shaw of his duties, as Melvin Hunt will serve take over as the interim coach for a team that is currently in a six game losing streak.

Shaw, who took about ten years to get a head coaching job after serving as an assistant, never had full-commitment from his players which led to 56-85 record in two years. The Nuggets are currently stuck in a disappointing 20-39 performance this season. Shaw earned praise for his work to bring the Indiana Pacers to an elite defensive team during his time there as an assistant, resulting in a job out in Denver.

The Nuggets have come a long way from two years ago, where coach George Karl won coach of the year with a 57 win season before being fired after losing in the first round in the 2013 playoffs to Golden State. Fast-Forward to the present and Denver has parted ways with former starting centers Timofev Mozgov and Javale McGee, as well as guards Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee. All four used to be significant pieces to the Nuggets puzzle.

With Shaw being fired and rumors that Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried may be traded in the offseason, the front office must be thinking of undergoing a full rebuild mode.

During a 1-9 stretch in February, Shaw questioned if his team were actively throwing games away.  “It just looks like you almost have to try to lose as bad, and in the way we’ve been losing,” Shaw said, per Nick Groke of The Denver Post. “At that point, something gives. The decision-makers at some point are going to make a decision. And everybody is going to have to live with it. Then it’s out of our control.”

The straw the broke the camel’s back was when a story came out where the Nuggets had a disturbing chant during a huddle of a recent game. According to the story, the Nuggets, in midst of a 10-game home losing streak, broke a huddle coming out of a timeout in Friday’s blowout home loss to the Utah Jazz with a chant of 1-2-3 … Six weeks!”

Six weeks just so happens to be the time that the regular season ends and sequentially ending the season for the troubled Nuggets team. Shaw later denied that the end of the season wasn’t what they were referring to but we will never truly know.  Ultimately, Shaw’s time in Denver was full of injuries, rotation problems, confusion, and just immaturity throughout the squad that led to a team being in the bottom five of offensive and defensive team statistics.

Hopefully Shaw will one day get another chance in a more stable situation.

Per ESPN.com’s Marc Steina  names that have already emerged as likely targets for the Nuggets are “Former Suns, Knicks and Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni, whose NBA head-coaching career began with the Nuggets during the lockout-shortened 1999 season, is interested in the position, sources say, while NBA coaching sources identify ESPN analyst Avery Johnson — who had two playing stints in Denver —  as another strong candidate.”