The Los Angeles Lakers failed to tempt the reigning two-time NCAA Championship winner Dan Hurley into leaving the University of Connecticut to join the Lakers. After ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced the same on his social media platforms, eagle-eyed fans noticed that former Lakers guard Russell Westbrook had liked the post.
Fans on social media were quick to call Westbrook petty for this engagement, as there haven’t been other instances of the former MVP taking subliminal at the Lakers through Instagram likes. Russ is well within his rights to detest the Lakers for his tenure with the franchise, while the Lakers and fans of the franchise are within their rights to dislike Westbrook for not being a good player when he was on the Lakers.
Russ averaged 17.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 7.2 assists with the Lakers, notching a 56-74 record over a season-and-a-half with the franchise.
Coach Hurley wouldn’t have had to deal with Russ if he joined the franchise, but he also would likely try to move Russ off his team given his incongruent fit with Hurley’s offensive philosophy. But wondering about the same is a fool’s errand, especially with Hurley locking in a return to the UConn Huskies to try and complete a three-peat of national championships.
Why Did Dan Hurley Turn Down The Lakers?
Coach Hurley had a six-year, $70 million offer to join the Lakers in his palms but found the resolve to turn it down. Many people were shocked to see what the Lakers offered, as it wouldn’t even have made Hurley a top-five-paid coach in the NBA.
Given the success he’s achieved over the years, the Lakers had to offer him more to even make the coach consider leaving UConn on the precipice of a historic achievement. For added context, the University of Kentucky offered Hurley a six-year, $66 million contract over the summer, showing that an NBA team offered just about 600K more than an NCAA team.
The Lakers have been accused of penny-pinching at various times before, and it’s clear the financial incentives of the job opportunity weren’t built to give Hurley an ‘offer he couldn’t refuse.’ The NCAA head coach even released a statement about staying on with the Huskies.
Some believe Hurley was never seriously considering a switch to the Lakers at this moment, but went through the extensive interview process to see if he had a future in the NBA while using the Lakers’ interest to leverage a massive contract extension from the Huskies. Similarly, the Lakers can claim they did the due diligence on major targets like Hurley before settling for JJ Redick.
The Lakers have wanted Redick for a while. With Hurley turning the offer down, it seems clear that Redick will be among the favorites to finally secure the Lakers head coaching position.
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