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The Los Angeles Lakers have their new leader in JJ Redick, but the team made a hard push to land UConn star head coach Dan Hurley. The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Jovan Buha reported that Hurley turned down a sizable six-year, $70 million offer from the Lakers. Even with a raise from the Huskies, Hurley is projected to have a deal for about $20 million less than the Los Angeles offer.
By comparison, the NBA insiders reported Redick landed a four-year contract worth an estimated $32 million. The Athletic also reported that some within the Lakers organization viewed the offer to Hurley as a “Hail Mary” attempt in the coaching search.
“Hurley left Los Angeles after being offered a six-year, $70 million contract, according to league sources briefed on the matter,” Charania, Amick and Buha detailed in a June 20, 2024 story titled, “Inside the Lakers’ decision to hire JJ Redick and how he shapes their future.” “He returned home to Connecticut to mull his decision while the basketball world waited.
“On June 10, he announced he was staying with the Huskies. Hurley’s new contract with UConn is expected to make him the highest-paid coach in college basketball — six years and upwards of $50 million, league sources said.”
Dan Hurley ‘Absolutely’ Thought About Taking Lakers Job Before Turning Down $70 Million Offer
Since rejecting the Lakers’ offer, Hurley has repeatedly squashed the notion that he used Los Angeles as leverage to improve his UConn deal. During a June 20 interview on “The Ryen Russillo Podcast,” Hurley admitted there was a moment when he believed he was going to take the Lakers job.
“I think yeah, absolutely. I think I wouldn’t have considered it unless I thought it was something real for me,” Hurley said of the Lakers’ offer. “I don’t like distractions. I don’t like ’em in my program. We keep our distractions limited. It was a very uncomfortable situation for me.
“Like I would much prefer to just be in the gym. I’m a pretty simple guy. Even though I draw a lot of attention. You know, because of the way I coach and the way I may interact with [a] fan postgame, particularly on the road, if I don’t like what they’re saying. Like I bring a lot of [attention],” Hurley continued.
“… I was not comfortable really in that whole situation. When it became public, it made it much more difficult for me to process everything. But I mean, I thought long and hard about it and it just wasn’t the right moment for me to go coach in the NBA.”
A Lakers Source Viewed Los Angeles’ Pursuit of Dan Hurley as a ‘Hail Mary’ Attempt
In the end, the Lakers rumors circled back to where things started as Redick became the team’s hire after Hurley emerged as a wild card candidate. It appears some within the Lakers organization were skeptical about Hurley’s interest in the NBA job.
“Even though the Lakers moved quickly to offer Hurley a contract that would have made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, several people inside the Lakers organization and externally wondered about the true overall genuineness of the pursuit and whether the franchise had been used by Hurley to get more money to stay at Connecticut,” Charania, Amick and Buha detailed. “The Hurley situation was seen by one team source with direct involvement in the search as a Hail Mary attempt.”
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