The Los Angeles Lakers whiffed on their pursuit of University of Connecticut basketball coach Dan Hurley. In some recent social media posts, Hurley’s wife revealed a “negative” ramification that would have come from Hurley deciding to take the Lakers job.
It seems to be a fairly lighthearted response to the news of Hurley deciding to remain with UConn. With that in mind, Hurley’s desire to remain close to home and family was believed to be a big reason why he stayed with the college.
It’s not just family that Hurley will remain close to either. His success at UConn has turned the 51-year-old coach into something of a living legend in the area surrounding the university. Another image his wife shared to social media proves just how much Hurley and his family are beloved by the community.
As for the Lakers, they have been left out to dry after their somewhat perplexing pursuit of Hurley. To make matters worse, it was recently indicated that the Lakers may have a tough time landing a solid candidate because of the chaos behind the scenes.
Former NBA player J.J. Redick was seen as a top candidate before the Hurley saga. Now, Redick may want little to do with the franchise.
“Some folks around the league feel J.J. Redick won’t want to be involved with this circus, and that he won’t want to be a second choice, but he wants to coach,” Vincent Goodwill wrote for Yahoo! Sports. “The Lakers seem very intrigued by him for whatever reason and the focus will smoothly shift to him. Because, who else? The coaching cycle is nearly over, and Redick does a podcast with…LeBron James.”
Moreover, it was recently reported that the Lakers as seen as a “skeleton crew” that does not give its coaches the resources they need to succeed.
To make matters even more interesting for the Lakers, it appears as though they could be on the verge of losing out on current New Orleans Pelicans assistant coach James Borrego. Borrego has reportedly impressed the Cleveland Cavaliers during his meetings with the team.
While Borrego has been seen as a potential leading candidate for the Lakers job, L.A.’s pursuit of Hurley may have toned down his interest in the franchise.
Things could get really dire for the Lakers if they end up missing out on a few more coaching candidates. While there are a lot of worthy candidates still out there, the Lakers will likely want to move quickly to get past the negative news that has come as a result of Hurley’s rejection.
