The Lakers have been pursuing the absolute best head coach to exchange Darvin Ham this summer time, after the discharging him on the finish of a marketing campaign that solely lasted till the playoff’s first spherical. After two months of searching for choices, latest experiences recommend that they’re getting ready a long-term proposal to rent UConn males’s basketball Dan Hurley.
Teaching legend Geno Auriemma, who trains the ladies’s workforce within the Connecticut college, was requested lately about this chance and he revealed that he was speaking to Dan final week about how they might fare in the event that they got an opportunity within the NBA.
“I leaned over and stated, ‘Hey, I feel you could possibly win numerous championships with the Lakers, extra so than a man that’s by no means coached,’” Auriemma stated on the Dan Patrick Present. “He simply checked out me and nodded, we had a great snicker.”
REPORT: Dan Hurley is “severely weighing” accepting the Lakers job, and it’s his if he needs it, by way of @wojespn
Laker followers, do you assume Hurley will take the job? pic.twitter.com/64PpubzPKA
— 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 (@SixthManJake) June 9, 2024
Regardless that Geno admitted he had no concept of the purple and gold curiosity on the time, he did say that it could be a tragic day for Connecticut if Hurley went away.
“This morning, I get up and, voila,” the veteran tactician instructed Patrick. “So, I don’t know what’s happening. It’d be a foul day for UConn if this occurs. It could be a fantastic, nice day for Dan Hurley, and I’m certain a bittersweet day for Dan Hurley.”
Going off to Los Angeles would positively be a recreation changer for Dan, as he already has his future secured in Connecticut. Having conquered back-to-back nationwide titles in simply six years on the job, you possibly can perceive why the Lakers want to rent him as head coach.
Auriemma is aware of that Hurley would maintain incomes titles if he stayed. “The state of faculty basketball is a multitude,” he assured. “If anyone may handle it, although, it could possibly be Danny. He coaches this program prefer it’s a highschool program, like he coached at St. Benedict’s. Their participant improvement program is second to none.”
He even dared to say that his colleague shouldn’t take the job. “If Danny have been to depart and someone stated to me, ‘He simply took this NBA job,’ I gained’t title any specific metropolis, I’d say, ‘You’re arrange for failure.’ However it’s the Lakers,” Geno stated.
Los Angeles’ curiosity in hiring Hurley took the NBA by storm, as many insiders by no means anticipated one thing like this to occur
The information is stunning, sure. One of the profitable franchises in league historical past is contemplating to supply a job to somebody who has by no means educated within the NBA earlier than? Properly, it wouldn’t be the primary time, as Darvin Ham additionally made his head teaching debut on the purple and gold bench.
Insider Zach Lowe was one who couldn’t fathom this chance. “The response across the league for the final 48 hours…and this consists of like teaching brokers I talked to who’ve a minimum of been on the periphery of this course of with their purchasers was, ‘What?’ Like, individuals didn’t hear a whisper of this. I didn’t hear a whisper of this,” he stated Saturday on The Lowe Put up.
Whereas addressing the chance that may be handed over to Hurley, Lowe defined how the Lakers workforce would profit from the coach’s offensive mindset. Nevertheless, he nonetheless believes that the tactician isn’t but tailor-made to the fact of the NBA, however solely of faculty basketball.
“There isn’t any doubt about Dan Hurley’s tactical acumen on any degree. In-game changes, big-picture creativity, philosophical creativity,” the professional defined. “The one query is what you and I’ve stated about his depth–scaling it down to suit the NBA rhythms and tempo of an 82-game schedule.”
