Dan Hurley Reportedly ‘Completely Open-Minded’ On Lakers’ Offer, Mulling Decision

The Los Angeles Lakers and UConn’s Dan Hurley met in LA and Hurley has since flown back East to mull their coaching offer. It is believed to be lengthy and large, reportedly in the neighborhood of eight years and $100 million.

Hurley approached the meeting “completely open-minded” and is expected to “mull the decision over the weekend,” per veteran college basketball insider Jeff Goodman of the Field of 68.

As an aside, Hurley was spotted at the Billy Joel concert at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

Dan Hurley and his wife Andrea looks super happy at the Billy Joel concert tonight at MSG with Coach Luke Murray 👀 (via coachlukemurray/IG) pic.twitter.com/8TY4cpEjsb

— Evan Rodriguez (@EvanRodriguezCT) June 9, 2024

Hurley, 51, has coached the Huskies to back-to-back NCAA championships and reportedly met with his players to at least let them know he was speaking with the Lakers. A lot of insiders feel as if he will remain at UConn. So does St. John’s coach Rick Pitino.

“What I’m hearing — and I have no [inside information] — is that his father [Bob Hurley Sr.] and his wife [Andrea] are very strong in his life and they don’t want to go,” Pitino told Dave Blezow of The New York Post. “I think he’s going to try it, no different than [John] Calipari tried it or I tried it. I don’t think he’s going to take the job, but I think he’s going to try the pros some day.”

Hurley signed a six-year, $32.1 million deal with UConn after the 2023 championship season. His buyout to join the NBA would be roughly $1.9 million.

Along with Hurley and former NBA shooting guard JJ Redick, the Lakers reportedly have met with New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego, Boston Celtics assistant and former NBA point guard Sam Cassell and Denver Nuggets assistant David Adelman.

Multiple reports suggest the Lakers will turn to Redick if Hurley turns them down.

“You can raise just as many questions — maybe more — about the challenges that would confront JJ Redick as a first-time coach, James Borrego as a more experienced option or anyone else whom the Lakers could hire if they can’t get Hurley,” wrote Marc Stein of The Stein Line. “Yet all of that is a major reason why the Lakers are under such pressure now to bring this home and convince Hurley to take the job. Now that the Hurley quest is out there in the public domain to this degree? It would only heap more pressure on Redick or Borrego or Fallback Coach X if Hurley decides to stay put and the Lakers have to pivot back to the previously known group of candidates.”