Coaching the Lakers comes with a level of prestige few will ever experience in the realm of professional sports. On the flipside, it also comes with a ton of scrutiny given that the purple and gold are the gold standard for basketball franchises. Dan Hurley could’ve been the one at the helm of it all but he refused, a decision he looks back on from time to time.
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After the Lakers and Darvin Ham parted ways, the Lakers coaching job was wide open. The obvious choice was a man with offensively catered schemes and a command over the locker room.
Dan’s name quickly rose up the ranks. Given his championship-winning ways at UConn, he seemed like a logical fit.
He would however eventually decline the offer and return to UConn, paving the way for JJ Redick to take up the job on June 24th, 2024. Redick’s love for coaching made him a viable candidate though he’d never once coached a pro team before. He did have a podcast with LeBron James called ‘Mind the Game’ which raised a few eyebrows.
Fast-forward to present day and Hurley appeared on the Zach Lowe’s podcast to address the Lakers negotiations. While he doesn’t openly regret not taking the job, he 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 LAL. He made his negotiations public to strongarm 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, Dan spoke about refusing the job. His reasoning? The bonds formed between him and his college players.
“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.” 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.’” Not the best message to wake up to, especially when the college team you’re coaching isn’t doing all too well (eliminated in the second round of the 2025 NCAA tournament by the Florida Gators).
