{"id":80575,"date":"2024-06-06T07:35:24","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T11:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=80575"},"modified":"2024-06-06T08:44:21","modified_gmt":"2024-06-06T12:44:21","slug":"lakers-head-coach-frontrunner-dan-hurley-emerges-from-shadows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/06\/lakers-head-coach-frontrunner-dan-hurley-emerges-from-shadows\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Head Coach Frontrunner Emerges From Shadows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After weeks of speculation about JJ Redick, James Borrego, Kenny Atkinson and others, the Los Angeles Lakers don\u2019t look like they\u2019ll be hiring any of them. Instead, the franchise has tabbed UConn head coach Dan Hurley as Darvin Ham\u2019s replacement, per ESPN\u2019s Adrian Wojnarowski.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">BREAKING: The Los Angeles Lakers are targeting Connecticut\u2019s Dan Hurley to become the franchise\u2019s next coach and are preparing a massive, long-term contract offer to bring the back-to-back national champion to the NBA, sources tell ESPN. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/6WPrigPvAW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/6WPrigPvAW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1798668676016836889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Frankly, Hurley\u2019s the best candidate that\u2019s been mentioned yet.<\/p>\n<h2>Lakers Head Coach Frontrunner Emerges From Shadows<\/h2>\n<p>A two-time NCAA champion as the head coach for the Huskies, Hurley\u2019s been a dark horse candidate the entire time. Per Wojnarowski, he\u2019s \u201cbeen at the forefront of the Lakers\u2019 search from the beginning\u2026\u201d Entranced by his abilities as a tactician and in their woeful player development department, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and general manager Rob Pelinka \u201care eager to formally discuss their vision\u201d of the franchise\u2019s future with him as head coach.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">ESPN Sources: The Lakers have had preliminary contact with Hurley and sides are planning to escalate discussions in coming days. Hurley\u2019s been at the forefront of the Lakers\u2019 search from the beginning of the process, even while the organization has done its due diligence\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1798668812377854154?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss are eager to formally discuss their vision with Hurley of marrying his dominant program &#8212; built upon both his tactical acumen and elite player development &#8212; to the storied Lakers\u2019 brand, sources tell ESPN.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1798668953298055552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Hurley, who was named the Naismith Coach of the Year in 2024, is only 51. With that said, he could spend at least another decade in L.A. if he lands the job. Thus, the Lakers are making this move with an eye to the future. However, like Brad Stevens with the Boston Celtics or Billy Donovan with the Chicago Bulls, he can coach a playoff-bound roster.<\/p>\n<h3>The Importance of Dan Hurley<\/h3>\n<p>Just as with players, certain coaching skills translate to the next level. In Hurley\u2019s case, it\u2019s his basketball IQ and ability to demand greatness from his players. His offensive philosophy will as well, as it\u2019s awfully reminiscent of Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr\u2019s.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHurley and his assistants envisioned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/stories\/college-basketball\/how-dan-hurley-fashioned-uconn-into-an-offensive-juggernaut-and-repeat-title-contender\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a movement-based offense<\/a> that emphasized off-ball screening over isolation plays or traditional pick and rolls,\u201d per Michael Cohen of FOX Sports. \u201cThey dreamed of a roster stuffed with high-level passers, shooters and \u2018game processors\u2019 who could operate a system culled largely from overseas concepts.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, because he\u2019s coming from the college ranks, it may reveal or lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a>\u2019s intentions to leave in free agency. He\u2019s long been a fan of now Arkansas head coach John Calipari. So much so that he probably would play for him if he was hired. That said, he also respects Hurley and his imaginative offense. Nonetheless, he may not see the hire as one that\u2019ll lead to him winning another championship <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/30\/lebron-james-agent-opines-on-how-much-longer-hell-play\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">before he retires<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lakers center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anthony Davis<\/a> may indeed <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/24\/lakers-rich-paul-has-surprising-take-offseason-plans\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">be their focus<\/a> this offseason though. Los Angeles has \u201cbeen committed to making (him) a significant part of the conversation on the next head coach and want to make sure that he&#8217;s aligned with how a new coach plans to feature him on both offense and defense,\u201d per Wojnarowski.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After weeks of speculation about JJ Redick, James Borrego, Kenny Atkinson and others, the Los Angeles Lakers don\u2019t look like they\u2019ll be hiring any of them. Instead, the franchise has tabbed UConn head coach Dan Hurley as Darvin Ham\u2019s replacement, per ESPN\u2019s Adrian Wojnarowski. BREAKING: The Los Angeles Lakers are targeting Connecticut\u2019s Dan Hurley to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":80584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,62,3],"tags":[240,5008,1557,2279,38,4557,481],"class_list":["post-80575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-anthony-davis","tag-dan-hurley","tag-james-borrego","tag-jj-redick","tag-lebron-james","tag-nba-offseason","tag-ncaa"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}