Coaching the Los Angeles Lakers comes with a level of prestige rarely matched in professional sports. But that comes with the obvious flipside: A ton of scrutiny given that the purple and gold have set the benchmark for basketball franchises. Dan Hurley, who could’ve been the one at the helm of it all, famously refused the opportunity.
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After the Lakers and Darvin Ham parted ways in 2024, the coaching job was wide open. The obvious choice was a man with offensively catered schemes and a command over the locker room.
Hurley’s name quickly rose up the ranks. Given his championship-winning record at UConn, he seemed like a logical fit. However, he declined the offer and returned to UConn, paving the way for JJ Redick to take up the job on June 24, 2024.
Redick’s love for coaching made him a candidate, though he’d never once coached a pro team before. He did have a podcast with LeBron James called ‘Mind the Game’, which had raised a few eyebrows and comments at the time.
A little over a year later, Hurley appeared on Zach Lowe’s podcast to talk about the negotiations he had with the Lakers. While he doesn’t openly regret not taking the job, he still ponders over what could’ve been, especially after Rob Pelinka traded for Luka Doncic.
“Your mind also, probably, goes there a little bit like, ‘Man, you could’ve coached LeBron and Luka on the same team,’” said Hurley.
Many speculated that Hurley never actually intended to join the Lakers. The insinuation was that the coach made his negotiations public to strong-arm UConn into signing him to a bigger contract, which they did, paying him $50 million over six years. But this is pure speculation.
Late last year, Hurley spoke about refusing the job. He cited the bonds formed between him and his college players as the main reason.
“I love being a part of this transformation for the last point in a young man’s life where you can really have a big impact on how their life is going to play out. What that man becomes,” Hurley had said.
This isn’t something NBA coaches can experience unless they have an incredibly young team, which the Lakers aren’t. Of course, fans of the 17x champs didn’t let Dan go out easy. On Lowe’s pod, he admitted to getting hate messages from the lot. “It’s Lakers fans direct messaging you that ‘You’re the biggest – you know, look how stupid you are,’” said Hurley.
Not the best message to wake up to, especially when the college team you’re coaching isn’t doing all too well. They were eliminated in the second round of the 2025 NCAA tournament by the Florida Gators. But then, Hurley made the choice, and knowing his credentials as a coach, he is sure to work toward getting his team back in the hunt for championships.
