Dan Hurley, LeBron James Texted During Lakers Pursuit

Dan Hurley told Colin Cowherd that he and LeBron James texted during the Los Angeles Lakers‘ pursuit of him. Hurley declined the Lakers’ six-year, $70 million deal to leave UConn for the NBA. 

.@dhurley15 reveals he exchanged text messages with LeBron James before deciding to return to UConn pic.twitter.com/n3N4TpsVMh

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 13, 2024

LeBron, 39, can become an unrestricted free agent this offseason by declining his 2024-25 player option with the Lakers worth $51.4 million. The leading scorer in NBA history is expected to return to Los Angeles on a new deal. 

The Lakers have turned their attention back to JJ Redick, who is calling the NBA Finals for ESPN. LeBron and Redick co-host the “Mind The Game” podcast. 

Redick will meet with the Lakers this weekend. Los Angeles is widely expected to hire the former NBA sharpshooter if the interview goes well. 

LeBron averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks for the Lakers this season in 71 games while shooting 54.0% from the field, 41.0% from 3 and 75.0% from the free-throw line.

The Lakers went 47-35. They lost to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs in five games.

Denver also swept Los Angeles in the 2023 conference finals.

A 20-time All-Star, LeBron joined the Lakers in 2018. He helped the franchise win the 2020 championship at the Walt Disney World bubble. 

LeBron is a four-time MVP, a four-time Finals MVP and a four-time champion. He’s arguably the best player in NBA history. 

A future first-ballot Hall of Famer, LeBron has career averages of 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.7 blocks with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Lakers. 

LeBron is the only player in NBA history to rank top-five all-time in points and assists, the only player to win three Finals MVPs with three different teams, the only player with 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 career assists and the only player to score 40,000 points.