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After weeks of speculation and rumors the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job was JJ Redick’s to lose, it was revealed that the team has actually been pursuing UConn men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley the whole time. Hurley has emerged as one of the best basketball coaches in the country after leading UConn to their second-straight national championship win.
He has a very good job with UConn right now but the chance to coach the NBA’s biggest brand could be appealing to the coach. According to a June 6 X post from FOX Sports’ John Fanta, Hurley spoke with his players and confirmed that he’s been talking to the Lakers but nothing is imminent.
It’s interesting that the Lakers were able to keep this under wraps for so long but the cat is out of the bag now. Los Angeles appears to be all-in on Hurley so they could just be waiting for him to make up his mind. This would be quite a coup for the Lakers. At first, it looked like they would be hiring a former player with no coaching experience to hiring arguably the hottest coaching candidate on the basketball scene right now.
Fellow UConn Coach Thinks Los Angeles Lakers Are Good Fit
Hurley has emerged as arguably the best coach in men’s college basketball, which is a feat considering UConn also has Geno Auriemma, who is arguably the best coach in women’s college basketball. The two have formed a relationship in recent years and Auriemma revealed that he previously told Hurley that he’d be a great fit for the Lakers job despite not knowing the two sides were talking.
“This is really funny because I happened to be at a thing with him last night,” Auriemma said on the June 6 episode of the “Dan Patrick Show.” “I have no idea what’s going on, I have no idea where this is going or what’s happening, but I said, just leaned over and I said, ‘Hey, I think you could win a lot of championships with the Lakers, more so than a guy who’s never coached.’ He just looked at me and nodded and we had a good laugh and then this morning I wake up and voila. So, I don’t know what’s going on.”
Dan Hurley Torn
There is no shortage of very successful college basketball coaches who made the jump to the NBA and didn’t have success. Hurley has no experience at the NBA level as a player or a coach so it would be a big transition.
However, he’s a very strong basketball mind and should be able to adapt to the pro game. For now, he’s torn on what he should do, according to Fanta.
“A source tells FOX Sports that Hurley is ‘truly at a 50-50’ in weighing his decision whether to make the leap up for LeBron James and the Lakers or stay in the college game and try to achieve something unthinkable in the modern era,” Fanta wrote in a June 6 column.
Going to a team like the Lakers would be a logical next step for Hurley if he’s hoping to find a new challenge but he’s comfortable at UConn and has built a very good program. It’d be a big risk but winning with the Lakers would be huge for his legacy.
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