It looks like the Lakers badly want Dan Hurley to become their next head coach.
Just when the 2024 NBA Finals were about to begin, the NBA world received some big news when it was reported the Los Angeles Lakers were in pursuit of University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley.
To that point, it was believed they were on their way to eventually naming former sharpshooter JJ Redick as their head coach, perhaps toward the end of June. Redick is currently a member of ESPN’s NBA broadcast crew, as well as LeBron James’ co-host on the “Mind the Game” podcast.
Hurley was reportedly scheduled to meet with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka in person on Friday. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the team will make a “massive, long-term offer” to Hurley, and insider Anthony Irwin posted on X that the offer will be in the area of $100 million over eight years.
Hearing the offer the Lakers are prepared to make to Hurley his weekend is in the nine figure range. Ballpark of 8 years, ~$100M.
That seems like an outrageous offer, especially for someone who has never coached at the NBA level. On the other hand, Hurley is a proven winner and program-builder at the college level, and he has successfully worked his magic at multiple schools in the Northeast.
He has coached the Huskies to back-to-back NCAA championships over the last two seasons, and perhaps he would bring the Lakers the type of gravitas they have lacked if he accepts their offer.
Other than Phil Jackson, the franchise has historically not gone after big fish when it has come to head coaches. One notable exception was when it courted legendary Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski in 2004, only to see him turn down its offer.
Dan Hurley and the Lakers may have serious mutual interest in the team’s head coaching job, but nothing seems set in stone.
Just when it looked like JJ Redick was in the driver’s seat to become the Los Angeles Lakers’ next head coach, things took an abrupt turn on Thursday morning.
That is when word got out that the Lakers were aggressively courting University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley. The two sides were reportedly scheduled to meet in person on Friday in order to talk about how a partnership could work and even talk about the framework of a contract.
Still, as of Friday afternoon, nothing has been set in stone, as least as far as anyone outside of the Lakers organization knows.
Jovan Buha reminded everyone in a report in The Athletic that Redick is still “a viable candidate.”
“Team and league sources cautioned that the coaching search remains far from settled,” wrote Buha. “… There is still a chance the 51-year-old will work out a new contract with Connecticut and remain college basketball’s top coach. Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million deal with Connecticut after the 2023 championship season. His buyout to join the NBA would be roughly $1.9 million.
“Redick, considered the front-runner for weeks, remains a viable candidate, according to league sources.”
Before Thursday, several reports indicated that Redick was firmly the frontrunner to land the Lakers’ head coaching job and that his hiring may even be inevitable.
Is LeBron James equally fine with J.J. Redick and Dan Hurley, or does he prefer one over the other?
If the Los Angeles Lakers are making a run at Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley, one would think that LeBron James is on board with the decision to go after the two-time national champion head coach. This could have obvious implications for Bronny James on the eve of the NBA draft.
LeBron Wire has noted that LeBron James recently praised Hurley, amid speculation that LeBron might actually prefer candidate J.J. Redick for the Lakers’ head coaching job:
“It is unclear exactly how much pull James and Klutch Sports have with the Lakers right now. Plenty feel the team’s interest in Redick has James’ fingerprints all over it, but Rich Paul and a couple of reporters have denied that James has had anything to do with its coaching search.
“Recently Hurley went on Redick’s podcast “The Old Man and the Three” and gave an in-depth look at the offense he runs with the Huskies. The coach said some of his sets have been inspired by what he has seen in football, especially from Kyle Shanahan, the offensive wizard who is the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
“James responded to that video with a glowing comment about Hurley in a post on X.”
Is LeBron equally fine with Redick or Hurley, or is there a real difference in strength of preference between the two? Does this reflect a difference in the front office’s approach to the draft and free agency? How different are Redick and Hurley in terms of the players they might prefer to both release and bring in to reconfigure the Lakers’ roster? All these questions remain unanswered.
What would hiring Dan Hurley mean for Bronny James and the Lakers?
Lots of basketball fans are interested in learning more about the hot new topic in the NBA: how hiring Dan Hurley could affect the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA draft plans, specifically with their No. 55 pick. That selection could be used to draft former USC Trojans guard Bronny James.
At ESPN, NBA Today’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Brian Windhorst, and Kendrick Perkins and weigh in on the potential of Connecticut’s Dan Hurley being the next head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Hurley has a 292-163 collegiate coaching record at Wagner, Rhode Island, and UConn. He won a title with the Huskies in both 2023 and 2024 and will now look to take that type of success to the Lakers. He will have a lot of talent at his disposal led by LeBron James assuming he returns in free agency.”
Underlying all of this is an assumption that the Lakers wouldn’t be considering Hurley if LeBron James wasn’t on board with it. We will see if the Lakers can finalize a deal with Hurley. Then all eyes would turn to LeBron and Bronny James.
Is Dan Hurley the fix the Lakers think he is? History says he may not be.
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Mike Sykes
Happy Friday, folks! Welcome back to Layup Lines. Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you’ve had a fantastic week so far.
When Adrian Wojnarowski first broke the news that the Lakers were seriously considering UConn’s Dan Hurley as the team’s new head coach, I couldn’t help but make jokes.
I mean, the Kendrick vs. Drake comparison between Woj and Shams Charania was right there. Shams says Redick is the guy for weeks and then — BOOM — here comes Woj blowing all of that to smithereens in one morning. It was hilarious.
But after taking a bit of time to think about it, I think I would actually like the hire. I’d especially like it over Redick, who I still believe is being considered partially because of his excellent podcast chemistry with LeBron James.
Facts are facts, and Hurley has coached his team to a college championship in back-to-back years. He’s got years of experience on different benches across the sport. I think he’s more of a proven commodity than Redick is, and he’d also be good for the Lakers’ young guys (especially if Bronny James is actually happening).
But, again, facts are facts. And while I do think this might be a good hire, plenty of recent history suggests it’s probably not the right move for the Lakers to make.
Plenty of teams in the NBA have hired head college coaches recently. The results have ranged from pretty, pretty, pretty good (shoutout to Larry David, the only man with two first names you should trust) to “wow, that was a dumpster fire.”
Brad Stevens: Stevens amassed a 350-281 record with the Celtics and came one game away from an NBA Finals appearance
Billy Donovan: Billy Donovan’s 399-319 record with the Bulls is solid, but has never really amounted to anything.
Fred Hoiberg: Speaking of the Bulls, Hoibgerg’s 115-155 record with Chicago was pretty dreadful.
John Beilein: John Beilein didn’t even last a full season with the Cavaliers before getting the boot.
The results there are mixed, at best. Larry Brown is probably the most prominent example of a coach who jumped from college to the pros and reached the mountaintop of the league. Stevens has come close. But everyone else? It’s been pretty hit or miss.
That doesn’t mean that Hurley would be a bad hire. Maybe he bucks the trend! Who knows? But if recent history tells us anything, the Lakers shouldn’t be so quick to bring him in without exploring other options first.
Tanking helps!
Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports
Look, I know the Mavericks are down horrendously right now to the Celtics. It’s not looking great for them.
But, hey! The fact that Dallas is in the Finals right now is a pretty big accomplishment. It wouldn’t be possible without Dereck Lively II, who wouldn’t even be a Maverick if Dallas didn’t tank at the tail end of last season.
“If they made the playoffs or if they had worse lottery luck, their draft pick would have gone to the Knicks as part of the 2019 deal for Porzingis. But instead, they ended up with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Fortunately for the Mavericks, they were able to retain the pick. Dallas easily could have shopped the pick around to try to get immediate value by trading for a veteran. Instead, they selected Dereck Lively II from Duke and became one of the biggest winners of draft night.”
Now, you can’t even imagine the Mavericks playing without him. The team literally would not be where it is.
I know we all hate tanking—it’s an affront to the game and makes for bad basketball. But the results are the results, folks. It works.
Amidst the news the Lakers are trying to hire Dan Hurley as their next head coach, it at least seems LeBron James likes Hurley’s offense.
After weeks of seemingly being headed toward hiring JJ Redick to be their next head coach, the Los Angeles Lakers are now making a serious push to bring in University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley to fill that position.
On the surface, it would seem to be the type of hire that everyone in the Lakers organization would be on board with. However, the most important man in the organization who has to approve of Hurley is, of course, LeBron James.
Redick has a relationship with the superstar stemming from their partnership on the “Mind the Game” podcast, and some feel Redick is therefore James’ preferred candidate.
It is unclear exactly how much pull James and Klutch Sports have with the Lakers right now. Plenty feel the team’s interest in Redick has James’ fingerprints all over it, but Rich Paul and a couple of reporters have denied that James has had anything to do with its coaching search.
Recently Hurley went on Redick’s podcast “The Old Man and the Three” and gave an in-depth look at the offense he runs with the Huskies. The coach said some of his sets have been inspired by what he has seen in football, especially from Kyle Shanahan, the offensive wizard who is the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers.
James responded to that video with a glowing comment about Hurley in a post on X.
“He’s so DAMN GOOD!!! Along with his staff. Super creative with their O! Love it”
After Darvin Ham, the Lakers’ previous head coach, showed glaring deficiencies when it came to being a tactician and making strategic adjustments, Hurley would be a refreshing hire.
The Lakers are moving quickly in their attempt to hire Dan Hurley as their next head coach.
Just when it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers were poised to eventually hire JJ Redick to be their next head coach, a major plot twist developed.
On Thursday morning, news broke that the Lakers were targeting University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley. Hurley has coached the Huskies to the NCAA championship in each of the last two seasons, and he has become a hot commodity across all of basketball.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that Los Angeles is “preparing a massive, long-term offer” for Hurley. In addition, he says the two sides will meet on Friday and that the team wants to get things wrapped up with him as soon as possible.
“Dan Hurley, I’m told, is on his way to meet with the Lakers tomorrow. He’ll sit down with Rob Pelinka, their Vice President and GM, and owner Jeanie Buss, and they’ll start to dig into what a Hurley-Laker partnership would look like. Hurley knows Rob Pelinka, they have spent time together in the past, talked basketball. But this is gonna be his first time meeting with Jeanie Buss and certainly the Lakers would love to get a deal with Dan Hurley wrapped up this weekend. I expect these talks will move quickly. There’s a lot of traction here between Hurley and the Lakers. But they certainly have more talking to do about whether there’s a fit here. Dan Hurley, back at Connecticut, has a chance obviously to win a third straight NCAA championship.”
“The Lakers’ pursuit of Hurley to become the franchise’s next coach has accelerated and the sides are already discussing the contractual parameters of a potential deal that would be significant in its length and salary, sources said,” wrote Wojnarowski.
Hurley certainly has a big decision to make here. He has reportedly been offered a sizable contract by Connecticut, and saying yes to the Lakers would mean big changes for him and his family.
He is originally from New Jersey and has spent most of his life in the Tri-state region. Before becoming the Huskies’ head coach in 2018, he was at the helm of the University of Rhode Island, Wagner College in Staten Island and St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, N.J.
The Lakers have been considered unable and unwilling to pay big bucks to a head coach, but that may be changing.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching search took a big and unexpected turn on Thursday when news broke that they’re aggressively pursuing University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley. Hurley has coached the Huskies to back-to-back NCAA championships the last two seasons, and he has become one of the most attractive coaching candidates in all of basketball.
The Lakers had appeared poised to eventually hire JJ Redick, a former NBA sharpshooter who has virtually no coaching experience of any kind. Many have felt they were simply unable and unwilling to pay a head coach a competitive salary.
But according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers are preparing a massive, long-term contract offer for Hurley.
“This has been their No. 1 candidate,” said Wojnarowski. “There are traction in these conversations. They have had contact. They’re going to talk much more in the coming days. But the Lakers are preparing a massive, long-term offer for Dan Hurley.
“They want him to be a program-builder in L.A. They want a coach who can span not just this LeBron James-Anthony Davis era, but beyond it.”
Hurley is 51 years of age and has compiled an impressive overall record as a college head coach over the past two decades. Hiring him would represent a paradigm shift for the Lakers, as they have opted to go with men who had previously been either assistant coaches or low-key head coaches ever since Phil Jackson left in 2011.
Contrary to what seems to be happening behind the scenes, a source says LeBron James has been hands-off with the Lakers’ coaching search.
For the last few weeks, it looked like JJ Redick was on his way to becoming the Los Angeles Lakers’ next head coach. A number of reporters and insiders said he was a strong frontrunner to win the job, and at least one of them said his hiring was inevitable.
But a big plot twist developed on Thursday morning when it was reported that the Lakers were making an aggressive push to hire University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley.
The likelihood of Redick getting the job until then gave the appearance that LeBron James was having at least some influence over the team’s coaching search. Rich Paul, James’ agent, claimed the superstar isn’t involved in that search.
According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, James hasn’t had any discussions with L.A. about its quest to find a new head coach.
James, through his representatives, has made it clear that the Lakers should do what is best for the organization and is mindful and respectful that the Lakers need to make a decision on a coach that will be with the team beyond his playing career. https://t.co/FmWm9iSlGk
If the Lakers ultimately hire either Redick or Hurley, that hire would possibly be on the bench for them many years into the future. Hurley is 51 years of age and has coached the Huskies to the national championship the last two seasons, and he is considered a hot commodity among basketball coaches.
James is widely expected to opt out of his contract this summer, although the thinking is that he will simply re-sign with L.A. on a new deal.
Will Dan Hurley make the big decision to head out West and take the Lakers’ head coaching job?
The Los Angeles Lakers’ search for a new head coach took an unexpected turn very early on Thursday morning when it was reported that they were targeting University of Connecticut head coach Dan Hurley.
Hurley has guided the Huskies to back-to-back national championships over the last two seasons, and at age 51, he is someone who could be at the helm of the Lakers for a while.
Right now, Hurley is reportedly unsure whether to join the Purple and Gold or stay with the Huskies and go after a threepeat.
“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,” wrote John Fanta.
“‘He deals with things mentally where he’s constantly seeking to prove what he can do,’ a source told FOX Sports.”
The University of Connecticut has reportedly offered Hurley a new contract itself, and that will factor into his decision.
“As for Hurley’s current position, a source tells FOX Sports that the University of Connecticut has offered the coach a lucrative new contract that would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the country, featuring significant widespread benefits for him. Hurley said Wednesday that ‘it’s complicated, and it’s taken more time (to get a deal done) than any of us would have liked. It’s not something that’s been a rush for me. You sacrifice a lot to do this job. The job beats your [expletive] pretty good, and a lot suffers with your family. Any chance at a social life, it consumes everything you have.’
“… Finances aside, a source says Hurley is weighing whether he wants to make this move. He has northeast roots and his father, Bob Sr., is 76, very involved in his life and a fixture at UConn games. His wife Andrea and boys, Dan and Andrew, are happy in the northeast but his sons are past college, so one would think that could make a move easier.
“‘His parents are still here and still very much a part of his life, and it’s convenient for the family to be in this part of the country,’ a source said. ‘But there’s that angle that there may never be a better opportunity than this one right now.'”
In 23 seasons as a head coach at the college level, Hurley has a stellar 292-163 record. His brother Bobby was a point guard at Duke University and in the NBA and is now the head coach at Arizona State University.
