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 in search of choices, current studies recommend that they’re making ready a long-term proposal to rent UConn males’s basketball Dan Hurley.
Teaching legend Geno Auriemma, who trains the ladies’s group within the Connecticut college, was requested not too long ago about this risk 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 possibly can win lots of 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 superb chortle.”
REPORT: Dan Hurley is “significantly weighing” accepting the Lakers job, and it’s his if he needs it, through @wojespn
Laker followers, do you suppose Hurley will take the job? pic.twitter.com/64PpubzPKA
— 𝐉𝐚𝐤𝐞 (@SixthManJake) June 9, 2024
Despite the fact that Geno admitted he had no thought 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 informed Patrick. “So, I don’t know what’s occurring. It’d be a nasty day for UConn if this occurs. It could be an amazing, nice day for Dan Hurley, and I’m certain a bittersweet day for Dan Hurley.”
Going off to Los Angeles would undoubtedly be a sport 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 hold incomes titles if he stayed. “The state of school basketball is a large number,” he assured. “If anyone may handle it, although, it may very well be Danny. He coaches this program prefer it’s a highschool program, like he coached at St. Benedict’s. Their participant growth program is second to none.”
He even dared to say that his colleague shouldn’t take the job. “If Danny had been to go away 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 vital profitable franchises in league historical past is contemplating to supply a job to somebody who has by no means skilled within the NBA earlier than? Nicely, 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 risk. “The response across the league for the final 48 hours…and this contains like teaching brokers I talked to who’ve at the least been on the periphery of this course of with their shoppers was, ‘What?’ Like, folks didn’t hear a whisper of this. I didn’t hear a whisper of this,” he stated Saturday on The Lowe Submit.
Whereas addressing the chance that may be handed over to Hurley, Lowe defined how the Lakers group would profit from the coach’s offensive mindset. Nevertheless, he nonetheless believes that the tactician isn’t but tailor-made to the truth of the NBA, however solely of school basketball.
“There isn’t a doubt about Dan Hurley’s tactical acumen on any stage. In-game changes, big-picture creativity, philosophical creativity,” the skilled 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.”
