Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American retired professional basketball player and former head coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but was used primarily at point guard over the course of his 14 seasons in the league.

Shaw grew up in Oakland, California with other future basketball stars such as Antonio Davis, Jason Kidd, and Gary Payton, as well as Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell. In his youth, he was a participant at the East Oakland Youth Development Center, a local community organization where he played basketball. He attended Westlake Middle School and then Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland. For college, he attended St. Mary's College of California for his freshman and sophomore years of college, then transferred to UC Santa Barbara for his junior and senior seasons. In his senior year, he was named Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA) player of the year as he led the Gauchos to their first ever NCAA tournament berth. He was taken with the 24th overall pick by the Boston Celtics in the 1988 NBA draft.

In 1988, Shaw signed a one-year contract with the Celtics. In 1989, Shaw signed a two-year contract to play with an Italian team, Il Messaggero Roma. At the end of January 1990, Shaw signed a 5-year deal with the Celtics. In June of that year, Shaw told the Celtics he planned to play for Il Messaggero during the 1990 season. The ensuing contract dispute, Boston Celtics v. Brian Shaw, which Shaw lost, became a relatively famous sports law case and is read in many law school contracts classes.

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