Earlier this week, UConn’s Dan Hurley left open the possibility of moving to the NBA at some point during an appearance on The Mike Francesa Podcast.
The coach of the two-time reigning college basketball national champions said UConn is a perfect fit for him, but he is committed to testing himself at the highest level “if the right NBA situation were to arise.”
When Francesa expressed his surprise, Hurley explained what the “right situation” meant to him. He said it had to be a job “where an organization wants a tone setter to come in and instill a culture. You know, young players and an organization that wants to pursue championships.”
These comments took on new meaning early Thursday when ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a powerful story with potentially significant implications at both the NBA and college levels. The Los Angeles Lakers are targeting Hurley as the franchise’s next head coach and are preparing a major long-term contract offer, Wojnarowski reported.
It doesn’t take a basketball expert to understand why Hurley would be intrigued by the opportunity to coach the Lakers. This is perhaps the most important job in basketball. It’s an opportunity to lead a franchise that has captured 17 NBA championships, that has signed high-profile free agent after high-profile free agent and that has never hesitated to pay big coaches top money.
Phil Jackson earned an annual salary of $12 million at the end of his Lakers tenure, which ended 13 years ago. Would it surprise anyone if the Lakers’ offer to Hurley exceeded that?
It also helps that Hurley appears to have the approval of the most powerful man in the Lakers organization. In April, LeBron James wrote in response to an interview JJ Redick did with Hurley for his podcast on X: “He is so DAMN GOOD!!! Together with his staff. Super creative with their O! Love it.”
Then there’s the question of how much more taxing and exhausting it is to be a basketball coach today than it was five years ago. Between the transfer portal and players acquiring the potential to receive NIL money, recruitment is more intense and round the clock. Last March, coaches whose teams were in the NCAA tournament simultaneously raised NIL money, scouted and pursued transfers and recruited their own players.
Hurley himself joked about that on the eve of UConn’s national title game against Purdue two months ago. Asked about his biggest motivation during the NCAA tournament, a laughing Hurley joked, “I just don’t want to deal with that portal s***. That is why we are now trying so hard to win.”
“I see what other people are doing, and it’s chaos,” he added. “I can hide behind, ‘Hey, my season is still going on.’”
Those are all good reasons for Hurley to be tempted by the Lakers job, but not necessarily for him to take it. He would risk a lot to go to the Lakers and give up even more if he leaves a UConn program he has described as a perfect fit.
History is littered with successful college basketball coaches who attempted to jump to the NBA but failed spectacularly.
In 1996, the New Jersey Nets hired John Calipari away from UMass after a Final Four run. The young, brash Calipari lasted just two seasons with the Nets after upsetting veteran players and the New York media more than once.
In 1997, the Boston Celtics plucked Rick Pitino from Kentucky after he won the national title in 1996 and fell one win short of going back-to-back the following year. The result was a 102-146 record and the infamous “Larry Bird won’t walk through that door” rant.
Jerry Tarkanian, Tim Floyd, Fred Hoiberg and Mike Montgomery had similar results. John Beilein somehow did even worse. Only Billy Donovan and Brad Stevens achieved sustained success at the NBA level – and even Donovan hasn’t won a playoff series since his rookie season in Oklahoma City nearly a decade ago.
The 51-year-old Hurley undeniably has the coaching ability to thrive in the NBA and the authenticity and fiery demeanor to hold players accountable, but there’s also no denying his quirkiness and his temper are hot. This is a man whose practices are legendarily grueling; who looks for the slightest perceived trifle to use as motivation; who rants at the referees after every close call.
On the sidelines at UConn practices last fall were a series of cardboard posters representing every trophy the Huskies could win during the upcoming season. Those posters were hit by Hurley, who kicked them to the ground or fired projectiles at them when he thought his team wasn’t practicing optimally.
Hurley’s hand-picked UConn players fed off his nonstop intensity. Would NBA veterans feel the same over the course of an 82-game schedule?
The Lakers’ track record of burning seven coaches in 13 years is also a red flag that Hurley shouldn’t ignore. Frank Vogel lasted two seasons after winning a championship. Darvin Ham was ousted the year after reaching the Western Conference finals. Who’s to say Hurley wouldn’t be made a scapegoat the first time something goes wrong?
At UConn, Hurley has the job security that comes with building the greatest two-year streak in the history of modern men’s basketball.
In 2023, a UConn team led by Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson and Adama Sanogo defeated its six NCAA tournament opponents by 20 points per game. Five of that team’s top eight players moved on, but last season’s Huskies proved even more unbeatable, winning six NCAA Tournament games by a record 23.3 points average.
The college game may be tough on coaches these days, but Hurley has fared better than anyone amid the chaos. He’s found a formula that works for him, sometimes passing on the most talented prospects to freshmen and transfers who prioritize winning and aren’t afraid of being coached hard.
Thanks to Hurley, UConn now has a chance to become the first program to produce three-peat since the heyday of John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty in the 1970s. The Huskies are a fixture in the preseason’s way-too-early top five thanks to the return of standout forward Alex Karaban and the addition of a bevy of talented newcomers.
Speaking with Francesa earlier this week, Hurley acknowledged that it would be difficult for him to leave the Northeast in general, and UConn in particular. He said he hopes to stay “as long as we can find these old-school people to bring into our program and then just combine that with modern basketball.”
“If we keep doing it this way,” Hurley added, “I’m going to stay here and the NBA will never exist again.”
Maybe Hurley should take his own advice. Maybe he should leverage the Lakers’ interest for a big raise and then stay where he is loved.
Coaching the Lakers is a job you can’t pass up, except maybe Dan Hurley.
