Lakers coach recalls tragic I-15 accident
About four years into his NBA career with the Boston Celtics, Brian Shaw purchased some land in Las Vegas and built a second home for his parents.
"My father loved boxing, and my mother loved the shows," Shaw told ESPN's Los Angeles-based sports columnist Arash Markazi.
"I decided to buy a place there that they could come down any time they wanted and go to the boxing matches and the shows."
With his father approaching early retirement, Shaw planned to trade in the car he bought his father, Charles, 52, and get him a new one as a Father's Day gift.
They kept the old car and a week later headed to Las Vegas, where they planned to celebrate the 24th birthday of Brian's sister, Monica.
Brian planned to fly down the next day instead of making the 10-hour drive from Oakland, Calif.
At 8:30 a.m. the next morning, June 26, 1993, Brian's telephone rang. He expected the voice on the phone to be his father's.
It was the Clark County coroner's office.
There was a roll-over accident on Interstate 15, about 10 minutes outside Las Vegas. Shaw's father, mother Barbara, 51, and sister Monica died. Monica's 11-month-old daughter, Brianna, named after Brian, survived in her child-restraint seat.
"If I would have just gone and traded that car in like I wanted to, they would have flown down there," Shaw told Markazi. "They wouldn't have been in the car that night driving there. If I wouldn't have had bought the house down there in Vegas, they wouldn't have had any reason to be driving down there."
Among the first to call him with condolences was close friend and Celtics teammate Reggie Lewis.
Two weeks after a visit from Lewis and four weeks after the family tragedy, Shaw received another call.
It was from the Celtics. Lewis had died of cardiac arrest while shooting baskets.
For the rest of Markazi's remarkable story about Shaw, reportedly the leading candidate to replace Phil Jackson as the Los Angeles Lakers head coach, go to normclarke.com and click on the Shaw story under the "breaking news" category.
HOLMES HONORS SAMMY
What an honor for Clint Holmes.
He's been invited by Tracey Davis, daughter of Sammy Davis Jr., to perform Monday in Los Angeles during an announcement about an upcoming biopic of the legendary entertainer.
Holmes, who spent much of his career paying homage to his idol, turned 65 on Monday, and what a party it was at a jammed and jammin' Bootlegger Bistro.
About two dozens singers were on stage at times with Holmes and his wife, Kelly Clinton Holmes, who hosts "Open Mic Cabaret" every Monday.
Mark Rivera, Billy Joel's musical director and sax player, led the birthday serenade for the former headliner at the Golden Nugget and Harrah's.
Former Las Vegas headliner Pia Zadora, who won a controversial Golden Globe in 1982 as best new star, made a speech.
SIGHTINGS
At The Country Club (Wynn) on Wednesday: Andre Agassi and O.J. Simpson's former attorney Robert Shapiro, in separate parties. Atlanta Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez, at TBones Chophouse at Red Rock Resort on Wednesday. ... UFC champion Rashad Evans and current IBF light welterweight boxing champ, Zab Judah, spotted at Chateau Nightclub & Gardens (Paris) on Tuesday. ... UFC star Josh Koscheck, at "Absinthe" (Caesars Palace) on Tuesday.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, are separating after 25 years of marriage. Arnold issued a statement saying, 'Hasta la vista, half of my stuff.' " -- Craig Ferguson
Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.
