UCONN Men’s basketball head coach, Dan Hurley, was seen as the favorite to land the Los Angeles Lakers open head coaching job. However, on the 20th anniversary of the Lakers trying to lure Mike Krzyzewski away from Duke, Dan Hurley decided to turn down a six-year, $70 million offer to stay at UCONN.
What Do The Los Angeles Lakers Do Now?
Well according to Wojnarowski, the Lakers hope to still hire their next coach before the NBA Draft. James Borrego is expected to remain part of the group and JJ Redick could get his first formal interview.
It was not that long ago that JJ Redick was rumored to be the favorite to land the job. Now with Hurley out of the picture, he is seemingly back at the top of the pecking order, even without officially interviewing with the team.
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If JJ Redick were indeed hired, this would not be the first time the Lakers hired a first-time head coach. In fact, two of their last 3 coaches were first-time head coaches. Luke Walton was given his first opportunity as head coach of the Lakers in 2016 after a short stint with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant. And most recently, Darvin Ham was hired as a first-time head coach after being an NBA assistant for nearly a decade.
JJ Redick would however be the first head coach hired by the Lakers with zero coaching experience whatsoever since Laker legend Magic Johnson was hired during the 1994 season leading the team from the bench for 16 games.
