When the Los Angeles Lakers parted ways with head coach Darvin Ham, their top choice to replace him was Dan Hurley, who was coming off back-to-back national titles at UConn.
The Lakers’ pursuit of Hurley seemingly came out of nowhere but was a serious one as they flew him and his wife Andrea out to L.A. to court them.
While the Huskies head coach thought long and hard about it though, he ultimately turned the Lakers down to chase a third straight championship at the college level. The Lakers instead pivoted to JJ Redick, who is their new head coach despite not having any previous experience.
After turning down the Lakers, one of the most prestigious jobs in all of sports, Hurley admitted that there may not be a future in the NBA for him in an appearance on ‘In Depth’ with Graham Bensinger:
“I don’t know. I don’t know about that. If you’re not going to take the Lakers job, then what job are you going to take?”
After Hurley turned down the Lakers, it was reported that control played a big part in that as he is in charge at everything at UConn. He confirmed that was the case and added that he enjoys being able to impact the lives of young men:
“I love being a part of this transformation for the last point in a young man’s life where you can really have a big impact on how their life is going to play out. Like what the man becomes. That, to me, was what I realized that I love about being a college coach that you don’t get to do as an NBA coach because that’s not the relationship there,” he said.
While Jeanie Buss was understandably disappointed that the Lakers weren’t able to land Hurley, it’s clear that his heart wasn’t in it and made the right choice to stay at UConn.
The responsibility of bringing the Lakers back to prominence now lies in the hands of Redick, which won’t be an easy task given the team’s lack of roster upgrades this summer.
JJ Redick’s feeling weren’t hurt by Lakers’ pursuit of Dan Hurley
JJ Redick knows Dan Hurley very well and has admitted to being a fan of his coaching. With that being the case, he made it clear that his feelings were not hurt by the Lakers pursuing Hurley before ultimately hiring him.
“I want to follow up on something Rob just was talking about. And that’s, you know, when the process was going on and we first met in Chicago. I was getting ready to call Game 1 of the NBA Finals when the Dan Hurley news broke,” Redick said. “And Rob was quick to call me. We had a great conversation. During that whole four-day period, at no point was my ego or feelings hurt or bruised in any way. Dan Hurley is a two-time national champion at UConn. I am a two-time 55 Swish League champion in the third and fourth grade division. Like, I understood, you know? I understood.”
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