If there is one news story in basketball surrounding the NBA that has caught the attention of fans besides the NBA Finals, it has been the Los Angeles Lakers pursuit of a new head coach in UConn's Dan Hurley. While that has picked up steam, there is one person that is already pumping the brakes of any lofty expectations of Hurley with the Lakers and that somebody is Stephen A. Smith who voiced his opinion on “First Take.”
Smith was basically emphasizing that the Lakers with or without Hurley have the same expectations and will likely have the same results. He would say that last season, Los Angeles can take on anybody in the Western Conference except for the Denver Nuggets who won the NBA championship.
“When we were talking about the Los Angeles Lakers before the playoffs began we had the Denver Nuggets as the only team they shouldn't want to face,” Smith said. “We looked at everybody else in Western Conference and we said LeBron James and Anthony Davis can take them, that's what we said. They just ran into the wrong team and it happened to be the first round. The year before that, that same team prevented them from going to the NBA finals.”
Smith wants people to pump the brakes on Hurley and Lakers
He would double down on his opinion while also emphasizing that he is a fan of Hurley and what he has done with the UConn basketball team since he has won back to back national titles. However, he would say that “what we're not going to do is sit here and act like he's going to pull off something that wasn't on the verge of being pulled off.”
“So although I love Dan Hurley and I think that he is an exceptional coach he is a champion, I think that he deserves this opportunity if he decides to take it and what have you,” Smith said. “What we're not going to do is sit here and act like he's going to pull off something that wasn't on the verge of being pulled off. That the Lakers were so far removed from a championship equation or anything like that under Darvin Ham that all of a sudden he's coming in as the savior. Darvin Ham had them in the Western Conference Finals.”
While Smith has a point about Ham leading the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals, fans have been critical of the former head coach for the past few seasons in terms of his game management and other areas. Plus they set themselves up for a matchup against the Nuggets in the first round this season due to a lackluster regular season finish, an area the team is hoping Hurley can improve on.
Hurley is the Lakers' top choice to be head coach
The head coaching search for the Lakers has been an interesting one to say the least as after firing Darvin Ham, they are looking for a person that can lead them past the top dogs of the Western Conference. While some were led to believe that former player and basketball analyst JJ Redick was the frontrunner, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that the franchise is targeting Hurley.
“The Los Angeles Lakers are targeting UConn men's basketball coach Dan Hurley as the franchise's next coach and are preparing a massive, long-term contract offer to bring the back-to-back NCAA national champion to the NBA, sources told ESPN,” Wojnarowski said. “The Lakers have had preliminary contact with Hurley and the sides are planning to escalate discussions in the coming days, sources told ESPN. Hurley has been at the forefront of the Lakers' search from the beginning of the process, even while the organization has done its due diligence interviewing several other candidates, sources said.”
Hurley meeting with the Lakers Friday about open role
As Wojnarowski said, talks did escalate as before Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks, he broke the news that Hurley is meeting with Los Angeles Friday. To even make the discussions even more fierce, the Lakers want a deal done this weekend.
“Dan Hurley, I'm told, is on his way to meet with the Lakers tomorrow [Friday]. He will sit down with Rob Pelinka and owner Jeannie Buss. They will start to dig into what a Hurley-Lakers partnership would look like,” Wojnarowski said. “Hurley knows Rob Pelinka. They have spent time together in the past, talked basketball, but this will be his first time meeting with Jeannie Buss.”
“The Lakers would love to get a deal with Dan Hurley wrapped up this weekend,” Wojnarowski continued. “I expect these talks will move quickly. There is a lot of traction here between Hurley and the Lakers.”
Hurley has the support of LeBron James, Magic Johnson
There is no doubt that Hurley was a name thrown around many NBA circles due to the success of UConn, but no team as big as the Lakers. The reports rang true when Fox Sports' John Fanta said that Hurley has informed his players with the Huskies that he has talked with Los Angeles.
“Dan Hurley met with his players at UConn this morning and informed them he's been in talks with the Lakers, a source tells Fox Sports,” Fanta said on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Hurley didn't want to hide the fact that this is real. Huskies have a noon practice and Hurley told his players it's business as usual for now.”
There have been many people within the organization that have showed praise for Hurley in the past, one being LeBron James who posted on social media on April 19. Another former Laker who was a player and executive was Magic Johnson who also shared his support for Hurley on social media
“I heard the great news that Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss and GM/VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka have had conversations with back-to-back NCAA champion and current UCONN Head Coach, Dan Hurley, about becoming the next Lakers Head Coach!” Johnson said. “I'm so excited and thrilled! This would be a game changer for the Lakers organization, LeBron, AD, the rest of the Laker players, Laker Nation and the NBA! Coach Hurley can coach his butt off lol”
In any sense, whoever the head coach ends up being, the Lakers are looking to make some noise next season as they are coming off of a disappointing finish being swept in the first round by the Nuggets. They also finished with a 47-35 record and the seventh seed.
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