It appears the Los Angeles Lakers have found their leading man. On the morning of Thursday, June 6, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the legendary franchise is targeting Dan Hurley to fill their head coaching vacancy. The team is reportedly preparing to offer Hurley a “massive, long-term contract” to bring the New Jersey native to the West Coast.
“The Lakers have had preliminary contact with Hurley and sides are planning to escalate discussions in coming days. Hurley’s been at the forefront of the Lakers’ search from the beginning of the process, even while the organization has done its due diligence interviewing other candidates,” Wojnarowski added.
“Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss are eager to formally discuss their vision with Hurley of marrying his dominant program — built upon both his tactical acumen and elite player development — to the storied Lakers’ brand.”
While he has never lead an NBA team, Hurley is a name that many fans are familiar. Not only is he the son of legendary coach Bob Hurley Sr. and brother of Duke legend Bobby Hurley Jr., but he’s also led the University of Connecticut Huskies to back-to-back national championships. Along the way, he’s picked up Sporting News National Coach of the Year, Naismith Coach of the Year and Big East Coach of the Year honors.
However, Hurley is not the candidate most fans have had their eye on. Previously, Shams Charania of The Athletic had let fans know the Lakers were “zeroing in” on former NBA guard JJ Redick to become their next head coach.
“No final decision has been made yet, and the Lakers still have steps remaining in their head-coaching search process, league sources said. But the indications are strong that Redick is their leading choice at this stage,” Charania wrote.
“The Lakers’ search has been seriously focused on two candidates — Redick and Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego — over the last couple of weeks, league sources said.”
At the moment, the Lakers, Redick nor Hurley have commented on the matter. Still, it appears that the Lakers intend to fill their head coaching vacancy sooner rather than later.
