When news initially broke that the Los Angeles Lakers were pursuing UConn head coach Dan Hurley for their coaching vacancy, it came as a shock to basically everyone, and even some of those within the Lakers organization. But ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Hurley had actually been the Lakers’ top choice from day one of their search even though his name was never mentioned as a candidate for the job.
This may have been a case of the Lakers doing an excellent job of keeping their plans close to the vest and out of the media, but it now seems that Wojnarowski may have been wrong in his report.
On Tuesday, Shams Charania of The Athletic appeared on “Run It Back” on Fanduel TV and claimed that Hurley was not the top choice from the beginning, but rather that the franchise began pursuing him as news about their interest broke last week:
“My sources have said that JJ Redick has been the frontrunner for this job. James Borrego has also been among the leaders for this job as well with JJ Redick. But when you think about the process so far, Rob Pelinka has met, before this Dan Hurley situation, he had met twice with two candidates. He met with JJ Redick once, he met with James Borrego a separate time solo and then James Borrego came into the facility, met with everyone, met with ownership, and then they last week on Wednesday turned their attention to Dan Hurley.
“He was not the No. 1 candidate, the No. 1 guy to go pursue from the start, from the beginning, but they felt like there was an opening there for him. He was in contract negotiations with UConn, he was discussing a deal to go back and they felt like there was an opening and they threw what people around the league believe was a hailmary offer at him. Six years, $70 million and at the end of the day Dan Hurley chose not to leave, he chose to stay for $20 million less at UConn. They did go up significantly from his current deal right now, but it is $20 million less.
“And you think about the Lakers job and what it’s known for and the big time-ness of it and he still decided to stay at UConn, go for a chance at a three-peat. It does beg the question around the league, was there genuine interest, was this a genuine process with this or was this simply just about leverage? So when you think about it the Lakers are two and a half weeks out from the NBA Draft, they’re three weeks away from free agency, no coach yet. I think everyone around the league doesn’t really have a great feel for where this process is at.”
Of course none of it matters anymore as Hurley chose to remain at UConn for, as Charania noted, significantly less money, but it does beg the question as to whose report is right between Charania and Wojnarowski.
As Charania said, it wouldn’t make much sense for the Lakers to have such deep interviews with the likes of Redick and Borrego if they weren’t even being seriously considered for the head coach position. Both Charania and Wojnarowski have their sources inside the organization, but it seems as if one of them was wrong. Wojnarowski was of course reporting things from the Hurley side as well given his ties to their family.
Whatever the case may be, the Lakers must now turn their attention elsewhere as they continue on their search for the franchise’s next head coach. And many will also be watching which of the two NBA media titans will get the right info to break the news first.
Former Lakers guard JR Smith advised Dan Hurley to stay at UConn
Coincidentally, Dan Hurley actually has some ties with the Lakers organization as he actually coached former Lakers guard JR Smith in high school. And the two-time champion actually advised Hurley to stay at UConn.
Smith recently discussed this, saying that he felt Hurley was in the perfect situation for himself at UConn while adding that he believes the 50-year-old has a chance to be one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all-time.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
