The Lakers’ coaching search took an unexpected turn Thursday morning with ESPN reporting the team is pursuing UConn coach Dan Hurley.
According to the report, the two sides have had preliminary talks with discussions expected to escalate in the coming days. Los Angeles is expected to make a “massive, long-term contract offer.”
The Lakers fired Darvin Ham after a disappointing season that ended with a first-round playoff elimination to the Nuggets in five games.
It had been reported for weeks that J.J. Redick — an ESPN analyst and LeBron James’ podcast co-host — was the favorite for the position.
But the report states that Hurley has been at “the forefront” of the Lakers’ coaching search since the beginning.
Hurley has led the Huskies to back-to-back national championships and resisted overtures from Kentucky this offseason after the Wildcats parted ways with John Calipari.
“No. I think being who you say you are at your core,” Hurley said on “The Jim Rome Show” in April, per A Sea of Blue. “I know how much UConn and the state of Connecticut and the university, how much they value me and my staff and the program staying where they are.
“I know all those things are in place for us to press for the three-peat and show people who you are. Once you make a certain amount of money, it doesn’t make that much of a difference in your life. I couldn’t be happier than I am here and knowing that the people that are with the portal, we’re going to have to be strategic there.”
