There have been a number of names mentioned as candidates for the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job since the team moved on from Darvin Ham. However, this deep into the search, it came as a huge surprise that UConn head coach Dan Hurley was not only a candidate, but at the forefront of Lakers choices.
Hurley is widely viewed as one of the best coaches in college basketball after leading the Huskies to back-to-back National Championships the past two seasons. While there is still plenty he can accomplish at the collegiate level, Hurley does sound open to potentially jumping to the NBA under the right circumstances.
The Lakers coaching target recently appeared on the Mike Francesa Podcast and admitted that he aspires to jumping to the NBA one day if the right situation presents itself:
“I do aspire one day, if the right NBA situation were to come along, to really testing myself…where an organization wants a tone setter to come in and instill a culture with young players and an organization that wants to pursue championships.”
The question now becomes whether the Lakers qualify as that right NBA situation in Hurley’s mind. While they do have some young players, no one would consider the Lakers to be a young team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis at the forefront. But there is no franchise more committed to winning championships than the Lakers and they remain the premier franchise in the league.
Hurley has been a college head coach for over a decade now and has reached the mountaintop of the NCAA world. It is now a matter of whether he feels it is best to move on to greater challenges at the NBA level or if he wants to remain in the collegiate ranks.
After some down years, Hurley brought a perennial power in UConn back to the elite of the college game. Now he has the opportunity to do the same with the Lakers if he so chooses.
UConn’s Dan Hurley ’50-50′ on leaving to coach Lakers
It is not an easy decision for Dan Hurley, who could remain where he is and become one of the legendary college basketball coaches of all-time. But the chance to lead an NBA team like the Lakers doesn’t come around often.
A recent report noted that Hurley is 50-50 on whether to stay at UConn or jump to the NBA to take over the Lakers, but his decision is expected to be made in the near future.
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