UConn coach Dan Hurley will travel to Southern California to meet with Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss on Friday, with the organization eager to finalize a deal to hire the two times national championship coach, sources. he told ESPN on Thursday.
The Lakers' pursuit of Hurley to become the franchise's next coach has accelerated and the sides are already discussing the contractual parameters of a potential deal that would be significant in its length and salary, sources said.
Hurley hasn't made a decision about leaving UConn for the NBA, but there is momentum in these discussions, sources said.
Hurley informed the UConn administration on Wednesday of his interest in speaking with the Lakers, and his players about the talks on Thursday, sources said.
UConn has won back-to-back NCAA titles, including a record 12 straight double-digit tournament wins, and has a top-five team returning next season.
Hurley has been at the forefront of the Lakers' search since the beginning of the process, even as the organization has done its due diligence by interviewing several other candidates, sources said. Only New Orleans assistant James Borrego had two in-person interviews in Los Angeles, sources said.
Pelinka and Buss are eager to formally discuss with Hurley his vision of merging his dominant program, built on his tactical acumen and elite player development, with the storied Lakers brand, sources said.
Hurley, 51, has often described his ambition to one day be an NBA coach and has expressed to the Lakers his desire to explore the full picture of a partnership with one of basketball's winningest franchises, sources said.
Hurley's pursuit comes on the 20th anniversary of the Lakers' attempt to sign Mike Krzyzewski from Duke to a record contract in 2004. Krzyzewski chose to remain at Duke, but the climate has changed dramatically in college athletics and raising demands of NIL funds for non-football schools like UConn are an especially unforgiving grind, and are expected to get even tougher.
As for the Lakers' stars, LeBron James has been impressed with Hurley's sophisticated offensive play, and assuming he returns to Los Angeles in free agency, the possibility of using the 55th overall pick in the draft on the first-year guard USC's Bronny James makes Hurley an even more intriguing candidate. . If that happens, James will have the opportunity to play with his son and will benefit from Hurley and his staff becoming responsible for Bronny's professional development.
In a social media post in response to a podcast interview with JJ Redick, James aware on social media platform
The Lakers have committed to making All-NBA forward Anthony Davis a major part of the conversation about the next head coach and want to make sure he is aligned with how the new coach plans to fit him on offense and defense. sources said.
The Lakers have continued talks with other candidates in recent weeks, but the potential of landing Hurley has been the focus of their search, sources said.
Part of Hurley's appeal goes back to the changing landscape of NBA roster construction under the collective bargaining agreement. Due to the roster-building limitations of the new second front, the ability for big-market teams to build rival rosters by trading multiple draft picks and young players for a third star player has been largely eliminated. Beyond the 21st overall pick in June's draft, the Lakers have a young core of Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Max Christie that management believes could show even greater improvement under Hurley, sources said.
After back-to-back historically dominant national title seasons, Hurley has become the most coveted coach in the sport, and the possibility of him leaving UConn and the Big East Conference for the Lakers has huge implications for college basketball and the NBA. Hurley has built a juggernaut that has surpassed the sport, culminating in the first repeat NCAA champion in 17 years and a performance that produced the largest point differential in tournament history: 140 points.
UConn's chance to win a third straight title looms with the return of a preseason top-five team, but the Huskies lost two lottery picks (center Donovan Clingan and guard Stephon Castle) and an All-Star guard. First team American (Tristan Newton) to the NBA draft.
The Lakers fired coach Darvin Ham after a first-round exit in the Western Conference playoffs. Ham went 94-70 in two seasons, including a trip to the Western Conference finals in 2023.
Hurley is 141-58 (.709) in six seasons as UConn's coach. The son of Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley Sr., for whom Hurley played at famed St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, Dan Hurley spent nine years as a high school coach at St. Benedict's Prep . before quickly rebuilding college programs at Wagner and Rhode Island. His older brother, Bobby, is the head coach at Arizona State.
