Dan Hurley discusses unique reason why he turned down Lakers job

Dan Hurley discusses unique reason why he turned down Lakers job

UConn head coach Dan Hurley was forced into a potential career-altering decision this offseason. For roughly a mere 72-96 hours, the back-to-back national champion was atop the list of candidates for the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching vacancy.

Hurley evidently turned down the job, returning to UConn in search for a third-straight national champion–a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since UCLA rattled off a remarkable seven straight national titles from 1967-73.

During a recent interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Hurley gave an detailed, candid reasoning on as to why he decided to return back to UConn instead of taking the Lakers job.

“I love being a part of this transformation for the last point in a young man’s life where you can really have a big impact on how their life is going to play out.,” Hurley said. “That, to me, was what I realized that I love about being a college coach that you don’t get to do as an NBA coach because that’s not the relationship there.”

Hurley, the reigning Naismith Coach of the Year, will be entering his seventh season at UConn and his 15th overall. For his career, he’s 292-163 (.642), having also won two tournament titles and two regular season titles (one apiece in A10, Big East).

When asked whether or not he still wanted to ever become an NBA coach, Hurley was unsure.

“I don’t know. I don’t know about that,” he told Bensinger. “If you’re not going to take the Lakers job, then what job are you going to take?”

Lakers botched the Dan Hurley situation

To some extent, Hurley’s right about the differences of being an NBA coach versus a college coach. Plus, he would’ve walked into a situation without much prior relationships and a polarizing roster outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Hurley’s one of the best coaches in America–in any profession. He’s also an excellent tactician, but he would’ve possibly had to modify his personality to become better suited for an NBA head coaching role. Would he have been able to adapt? I don’t doubt the possibility, but he won’t have to as long as he’s at UConn.

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