UConn's Dan Hurley isn't going anywhere, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. So the Los Angeles Lakers will have to resort to a very obvious Plan B in their coaching search.
Some will tell you that man is former NBA shooting guard JJ Redick, now a broadcaster for ESPN/ABC. From Dan Hurley to JJ Redick? Yeah, not ideal if you're the Lakers, who haven't seemed to get anything right in the past three or four years.
Anyway, back to Hurley. He reportedly met with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and GM Rob Pelinka on Friday, flew back to Connecticut, and told Wojnarowski he would decide on his future on Monday. That decision has been reached. Sorry, LA, looks like another rainy day in the NBA.
Hurley will now focus on a new deal with UConn after winning back-to-back championships with the program.
"As swept away as Hurley became by the Lakers courtship and vision for him, he ultimately couldn't walk away from a chance to make history and pursue a third straight NCAA title," Wojnarowski wrote. "Even before Lakers talks, Hurley already had a UConn offer to become one of highest-paid NCAA coaches and those talks will continue, per sources."
A lot of insiders felt Hurley would remain at UConn all along. So did St. John's coach Rick Pitino.
"What I'm hearing — and I have no [inside information] — is that his father [Bob Hurley Sr.] and his wife [Andrea] are very strong in his life and they don't want to go," Pitino told Dave Blezow of The New York Post. "I think he's going to try it, no different than [John] Calipari tried it or I tried it. I don't think he's going to take the job, but I think he's going to try the pros someday."
Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million deal with UConn after the 2023 championship season. His buyout to join the NBA would be roughly $1.9 million.
Along with Hurley and Redick, the Lakers reportedly have met with New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Boston Celtics assistant and former NBA point guard Sam Cassell and Denver Nuggets assistant David Adelman.
