UConn Huskies head basketball coach Dan Hurley spent last weekend interviewing for the Los Angeles Lakers’ vacancy.
His reported candidacy was a major surprise after Hurley led the Huskies to back-to-back championships this past season. The fact that he sat down with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka in Southern California added to the belief that Hurley would end up making his way to the NBA.
In the end, Los Angeles offered Hurley a six-year contract worth roughly $70 million. It would have made him one of the highest-paid NBA head coaches. In turn, he netted a contract extension from UConn. It led to speculation that Hurley simply used the Lakers for leverage.
“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, but it is $20 million less,” Shams Charania said during a Tuesday appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Run it Back. “And you look at the Lakers job, what it is known for, the big-time-ness of it and he still decided to stay at UConn.
“It does beg the question around the league: Was there genuine interest or was this simply about leverage? The Lakers are two and a half weeks out from the NBA Draft, three weeks away from free agency, and no coach yet.”
It makes sense for college coaches to use an opening like the Lakers have as leverage. We saw it in the college football world a whole lot with former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh doing the same thing before ultimately landing with the Los Angeles Chargers earlier this offseason.
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Dan Hurley blasts report that he used the Los Angeles Lakers for leverage
Hurley appeared on the Dan Le Batard Show Thursday morning. When asked whether the aforementioned report was true, he pushed back in a big way.
“One of the worst takes I’ve heard is that this was a leverage play. I don’t need leverage here. We’ve won back to back national championships,” Dan Hurley said.
That’s a fair point. Winning consecutive national championships is all the leverage Hurley needed in extension talks with the Huskies’ brass.
As for the Lakers, they are still searching for a head coach to replace the fired Darvin Ham. Focus is turning back to JJ Redick, who will have a formal interview with the Lakers’ brass over the weekend.
Time is of concern with the NBA Draft and NBA free agency quickly approaching.