As the summer rolls on, pressure is building for the Los Angeles Lakers to finalize an agreement with their next head coach. For now, the job remains vacant but many predict that it’s only a matter of time before the current top candidate, UConn Men’s coach Dan Hurley, becomes the official hire to satisfy his “big ego.”
“I think [Hurley] takes this job with the Lakers. I think Dan is wired in a way that he’s got a big ego and a large personality,” said longtime college broadcaster John Fanta on GoJo and Golic. “But also, he wants the next biggest thing in his career. That’s how he’s wired. He’s also fueled by doubt. Let’s face it, in the college game, he has nothing left to prove.”
"Your gut feeling. Your opinion. Is Dan gone?" @golic
"I think he takes this job with the Lakers. He's got an ego & big personality. He wants the next biggest thing in his career. That's how he's wired. He's also fueled by doubt. Let's face it, in the college game, he has… pic.twitter.com/MpV5CgCAZv
— GoJo and Golic (@GoJoandGolic) June 7, 2024
After moving from an assistant to a head coach in 2018, Hurley led the NCAA UConn Men’s Basketball team to back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024. He’s considered a genius in the sport and one of the many rising stars in the college basketball scene.
Apparently, Hurley has been thinking of taking his talents to the NBA for a while now and the Lakers are taking it as an opportunity to make a hard recruitment pitch. Complete with a meeting and lucrative contract offer they are sparing to expense to lure him to the coaching bench.
For now, the search is still ongoing and the Huskies are rumored to be preparing a counteroffer to try and keep their star coach on the program. With no official word on when a decision will be made all we can do is wait it out and see what happens next.
As hard as it is to turn down a chance to coach the Lakers, Hurley has a certain degree of authority and job security at UConn that just wouldn’t exist with the Lakers.
Can Hurley Resist His NBA Calling?
Even with the risks involved, coaching the Lakers is a rare and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that doesn’t get offered to just any coach. For someone still in the college sector, it’s impressive that Hurley got the nod by the NBA’s biggest franchise, especially given there are several top assistant coaches who many feel are more than qualified for the job.
We already know that Hurley is the Lakers’ preferred man and they’d have hired him yesterday if they could. Ultimately, the decision falls squarely on Hurley and he has more than enough reasons to accept this latest opportunity.
“I think he looks at this situation and says ‘there’s no matter time than the present. he gets a big payday, he gets to be the coach of a storied franchise, and he could potentially write the last chapter with LeBron James,” said Fanta. “And let’s just say it doesn’t work out, then he got a huge pay-day and if he went back to college anybody would hire him.”
Unless Hurley just feels more comfortable in the college world, there’s no good reason for him to turn this offer down. As someone who is confident in himself and his coaching ability, and has the hardware to prove it, there may be no better fit for the Lake Show right now when it comes to finding a coach to lead them on the sidelines.
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