Dan Hurley will not go to the NBA after all. The UConn coach declined a six-year, $70 million contract offer from the Los Angeles Lakers to become the team’s next head coach, team and league sources confirmed Monday.
Los Angeles would have made Hurley one of the NBA’s six highest-paid coaches, per ESPN.
The 51-year-old Hurley emerged as a leading candidate last week, when news broke he and the Lakers were in contact about Los Angeles’ head-coaching vacancy. Lakers leadership met Friday with Hurley, who cemented his status as the top active coach in college basketball after guiding UConn to back-to-back national championships in 2023 and 2024.
The Lakers — coming off a first-round playoff exit — have been in search of their coach since the team fired Darvin Ham on May 3 after two seasons. Where L.A. goes next is unclear. JJ Redick, the ESPN analyst and former player, was previously seen as the front-runner by many in the NBA and Lakers organization, and James Borrego, the New Orleans Pelicans’ associate coach who has maintained a strong relationship with All-NBA big man Anthony Davis, has also been under consideration.
The hire is pivotal as Los Angeles hopes to retain star LeBron James, who must decide whether to exercise his $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 season by June 29.
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Hurley’s decision is a triumph for UConn, which is poised to be a preseason top-10 team and a contender to win its third consecutive national championship. Hurley, who signed a six-year, $32.1 million contract with UConn in 2023, had a heavily reduced buyout for if he left for an NBA head-coaching job — $1.875 million, versus a $7.5 million buyout if he left for a college head-coaching job.
This story will be updated.
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