Dan Hurley, head coach of the UConn Huskies, celebrates after winning the National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I men's basketball tournament's title at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, April 8, 2024. /CFP
The Los Angeles Lakers have been in contact with head coach Dan Hurley of the National Collegiate Athletic Association champion University of Connecticut Huskies in their search for a new boss, The Athletic reported on Thursday.
The purple and gold fired coach Darvin Ham after they were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets 4-1 in the Western Conference first-round playoffs. They are considering several candidates as a replacement, including ESPN broadcaster JJ Reddick, New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego and now Hurley.
Hurley has been coaching UConn since March 2018 and led the team to back-to-back NCAA Division I Tournament titles in 2023 and 2024. Last year, he signed a six-year, $32.1 million contract with the school. The deal includes two buyout clauses. If he leaves for a college head-coaching job, it will be worth $7.5 million; if he departs for an NBA head-coaching job, it will be worth only $1.875 million.
LeBron James (#23) of the Los Angeles Lakers dunks in Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, April 25, 2024. /CFP
Though Hurley has never coached in the NBA, his tactics of having his team shoot a lot of three-pointers and launch attacks via screens and handoffs fit the league well. Moreover, he doesn't force his team to play in a rigid system. Instead, Hurley gives them freedom to attack on the opponents' defense. This matters on LeBron James' team.
That's another major consideration for the Lakers in their search for a new coach. Though James is 39, he averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game during the regular season and was selected to the All-NBA Third Team. With a great influence on the game, he has a $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 campaign that expires on June 29. It will take a solid attitude of continuing to build a title contender by the Lakers to convince James to stay.
Currently in the NBA, Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls is the only head coach who has won a national championship in college. In league history, only Larry Brown has won titles both in the NCAA and NBA.