Winners and losers of Dan Hurley turning down Lakers: UConn can rejoice; Jeanie Buss, Rick Pitino take a loss

Dan Hurley will remain coach of the Connecticut Huskies. The Los Angeles Lakers failed to make him the franchise’s next coach after leading UConn to back-to-back national titles when Hurley declined the team’s reported six-year, $70 million offer, keeping him tied to Storrs, Connecticut, as he looks to join John Wooden as the only men’s college basketball coach to three-peat. (Wooden, by the way, seven-peated. Hurley has a ways to go there.)

The decision is a boon to the Big East and the best program within it — and on the other side, a crushing blow to the Lakers, who had reportedly been eyeing Hurley since starting its search in the wake of Darvin Ham’s ouster.

Below are the winners and losers from the fallout of Hurley’s L.A. stiff-arm and his choice to run it back with UConn.

Winner: UConn keeps their man

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first. The University of Connecticut, bar none, walks away today as the biggest winner of the ordeal. It went toe-to-toe with the Los Angeles Lakers and successfully fended off the historically proud franchise to retain its coach. Hurley is negotiating a new deal with the school, but it’s unlikely the money is in the same ballpark as the deal he turned down. For UConn, that says a lot about the state of the program and the comfort he and his family have with where they’re at right now. — Boone

Loser: Jeanie Buss can’t get deal done 

This is at least the third time that Jeanie Buss has failed to secure her preferred coaching candidate. The 2012 pursuit of Phil Jackson was stymied by her brother, Jim Buss, who preferred Mike D’Antoni and technically controlled basketball operations at the time. The 2019 pursuit of Ty Lue was a much more direct representation of her shortcomings as an owner. The Lakers offered Lue, a former champion, only three years and $18 million to coach the team. He justifiably balked. When the Lakers landed Frank Vogel, they also…

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Author : Kyle Boone

Publish date : 2024-06-10 22:27:39

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