Lakers preparing offer for Hurley

[Pete78626]

Dan’s given my son & I our best sports memories we have, so this hurts, but he’s gone.
He’s always said he had a goal of coaching in the NBA, and like them or not, the Lakers are 1 of the most stored franchises in basketball history. Dan’s evolved as a coach since he’s been here, so saying he won’t evolve in the NBA doesn’t make sense. The only thing that doesn’t jive is having Alex come back, but things have changed quickly and Dan’s always been honest with his players. I don’t see how he turns down coaching the Lakers as one of the top paid coaches in the NBA. This run was almost too good to be true.

 

[tuvent08]

I actually think this is less the money (it doesn’t hurt, but UK would provide him multi-generational wealth) and more the challenge of the NBA and the Laker brand (Hurley loves brands). Being rich in LA is way more fun than being rich in Lexington.

I would be devastated but have zero ill-will if he took it. The timing kind of sucks but that’s life.

 

[Deepster]

People in this thread acting like living in LA making $20M wouldn't be awesome are coping so hard it's not even funny. Listen to yourselves.

I didn’t say anything about the money.

If you have an argument about LA being a great place to live, I’ll hang up and listen.

 

[Chin Diesel]

 

[CTBasketball]

And they just made Geno the highest paid women's coach. Maybe our AD knew something.

UConn’s offering to Hurley will be an absolute bag. Record-breaking.

Everyone on here over-reacting has never been in a salary negotiation. It shows.

 

[UC0NN]

The timing of this offer is crappy. Hurley has a chance to go for the threepeat. Then he can move to the NBA. Given his disposition and his family's preferences, I'd think he'd wait for the Knicks job to open up again, and jump there when it does.

3 peat or wait for the Knicks job to open up? Not everything will have perfect timing like that and waiting for that perfect opportunity is like waiting for the next total eclipse.

 

[djct1999]

The work-life balance probably isn't that much better overall. Sure, you're on the road more as an NBA coach, but college recruiting is a massive grind not to mention the NIL nonsense. I'm sure guys like Billy Donovan were happy to trade the NBA grind for not having to sit through countless AAU tournaments and recruiting visits.

Does Billy look happy? I am not so sure.

 

[Ricker]

The fall back for Karaban and others is that Hurley can draft them or sign them as free agents. (I can't even smile at my own joke)

I should've known things were going too good. I was looking at a vacation home the weekend before the market crash in 1987, and had taken a trip to Florida at the end of 2007 looking at boats. I've had the same secure feeling about our threepeat and everything falling in place. Of course a kick in the nuts was coming. (On the other hand, I did survive 1987 and 2008)

I personally couldn't even spend a long weekend in CA, let alone LA. Last time I went I had reservations for a week and came home after 3-4 days. Hate the place, and now I may have more reason to.

 

[boog204]

Are you seriously comparing living in Glastonbury CT to Los Angeles?

Better pizza in Glastonbury...

 

[Hey Adrien!]

UConn’s offering to Hurley will be an absolute bag. Record-breaking.

Everyone on here over-reacting has never been in a salary negotiation. It shows.

Or, like me, they've been a part of salary negotiations as a teacher and left feeling miserable and worse than before it even started.

 

[djct1999]

UConn’s offering to Hurley will be an absolute bag. Record-breaking.

Everyone on here over-reacting has never been in a salary negotiation. It shows.

Maybe UConn wants this out there because it’s the only way to justify what Hurley will be offered? I like it.

 

[UC0NN]

Dan gets fired after 2 years. Then he takes over St Johns. Kinda like Nick Saban.

 

[Fan1978]

Celtics are the favorite to win the title, might have to wait for the Knicks

Nba is where coaches go to die. He has too much to accomplish in college. This is 5-10 years down the line. He is not going anywhere. He would hate the nba and most likely be unsuccessful. His program is about effort and unselfish team play. Nba is selfish me first ball. He would be in a sanatorium in less than a year

 

[Connecticut13]

I think Hurley can be successful at whatever he does -- there's no doubt he can be a great NBA coach. Would he be as happy in the NBA? I don't know. Personally, I don't think it's about the money. He strikes me as someone that isn't totally consumed with money -- and I think $8 mil or so a year at UConn for life would be more than sufficient to live the lifestyle that he and his family would want.

If he goes to the NBA, it's about the challenge and proving to everyone (including himself) that he could do it.

But he'd be giving up the chance to complete his legacy at UConn - where his name could be synonymous with the university (and college basketball) for the next decade plus. His father had chances to leave high school and he never did. His name was synonymous with St. Anthony's. And he really enjoyed helping to mold young players.

Dan can be successful in the NBA -- but I suspect he would miss everything that comes with college hoops, from the crazy fans, the Big East Tournament, March Madness...and most importantly, the players.

 

[jorge34]

Got to given them credit for keeping it this quiet for so long. As Woj said it’s been going on a while.

If he leaves it will leave a mark on his UConn legacy no way to sugarcoat that with all the best wishes and thank you’s .

All of that will be forgotten if we become a version of what we were when he started.

Sure it was a different time but Calhoun left a program that was good enough to win a chip the first year they were eligible.

This really stinks especially since I hate the Lakers.

Maybe the Knicks ought to fire Thibs and hire Hurley then he can stay in the NE and his family might be happier.

Add a stretch 4 to the Knicks and Hurley would be a great fit for that

 

[WrenchFan69]

Hurley’s not only a great coach, but he’s very business minded. People forget it’s contract negotiation season, this happens.

Do I think there’s smoke? Yes. But I think his intentions are that he’s staying in Storrs. So go ahead AD DB, bankrupt the state further I’m here for it. Our politicians make worse decisions daily than giving gazillions to our beloved head coach.

State is objectively very far from bankruptcy

 

[Lefty2one]

Everyone on here over-reacting has never been in a salary negotiation. It shows.

It's different because the Lakers initiated the contact. God bless anyone who thinks there's ZERO chance he takes the Lakers' gig and that it's all a negotiation ploy.

 

[imno1]

Danny is as hot as he may ever be right now. He will be the highest paid coach in the NBA if he leaves.

 

[Vancat]

I hope, whatever his thoughts are, that he’s speaking with the team. I hope they aren’t going through what we are (even worse of course).

 

[Kemba15]

Does @Zionn "next" mean Hurley is gone or the Lakers ain't happening?

 

[Hamms30]

Thoughts:
1.) It's hard to say no to the Lakers if they're throwing a mountain of money at you. Is it a take it or leave it situation? Or could it be, I'm interested and the gravity of what this means is not lost on me. I don't know if right now is the best time.. we've got something cooking and I'd like it if we could revisit this after seeing things through here in CT.
2.) I know he can adapt, but it's going to be tough to get a bunch of ego driven pro's to buy into a team mentality and play the physical type of ball he coaches for 80+ games a season. Bodies break.
3.) If he goes, we're heartbroken, but we send him out of CT with a parade for what he's done. We understand business is business.
4.) The thought of LeBron opening a pregame goodie bag from Andrea and the utter delight on his face is cracking me up in my mind.
5.) Need to lock up Kimani or Luke somehow or we're not looking for just a new coach. We're looking for a new team too.

 

[kemba]

I do love the people in here that aren't clued in to how the NBA works with its news stories.

If WoJ is tweeting and doing sportscenter spots at 7am about a story it very much is legitimate.

If something big happens in the NBA Woj is the one who drops it.

This has way more legs than the UK forum non sense. This is probably 80/20 done to the lakers with how it's been handled in the media. Woj doesn't just leak stuff for contract negotions.

Who has doubted woj?

Woj went on sports center and said the lakers want him bad and Dan is willing to hear them out. That’s not 80/20 done

 

[husky429]

Highest paid colleges basketball coaches this year were Self at 9.6 mill and Cal at 8.5 mill. He's at or above their level now.

I think a contract in that area could be competitive with an NBA offer. Another 10 years at UConn at 9 mill is equally as attractive as the risk of 3-4 in the NBA at 15 mill. The talk of "life-changing" money is a little silly to me. He's getting life-changing money if he stays in college too, with unlimited job security as long as he feels like working.

Can we pull that kind of $$ out of thin air? I have no idea. But I'm confident the AD has been working on it for a couple months now.

I really think this will come down to whether or not he wants the challenge of coaching at the highest level. Personally, I would... and I'd go. But it's not for everyone.

 

[UC0NN]

Danny is as hot as he may ever be right now. He will be the highest paid coach in the NBA if he leaves.

For sure, he can name his price right now within reason.

 

[Ports21]

I can't fault him if he does leave, but selfishly, I hope he stays.