On Thursday afternoon, about a month and a half after firing Darvin Ham following a subpar two-season stretch as head coach, the Los Angeles Lakers made the decision to hire JJ Redick as the franchise's next head coach. It was the expected result from the very beginning of the Lakers' coaching search, though for one weekend in mid-June, it did look like there was a strong possibility that UConn men's basketball head coach Dan Hurley was going to be the one the Lakers eventually landed.
After news broke just two weeks ago that Dan Hurley was the primary target of the Lakers' coaching search, the next 72 hours of coverage was devoted to sifting through the intel and debating whether or not the two-time defending National Championship winning coach would make the jump from the college basketball capital of the world to one of the NBA's most storied franchises. In the end, Hurley, a life-long east coast guy, made the tough decision to stay home, a smart choice if only because it presents him and the UConn Huskies with the chance to go for a third consecutive National Title. But some within the Lakers organization now wonder whether Hurley was even legitimately interested in the job in the first place, according to Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
“Even though the Lakers moved quickly to offer Hurley a contract that would have made him one of the highest-paid coaches in the league, several people inside the Lakers organization and externally wondered about the true overall genuineness of the pursuit and whether the franchise had been used by Hurley to get more money to stay at Connecticut. The Hurley situation was seen by one source with direct involvement in the search as a Hail Mary attempt.”
This Lakers Hail Mary attempt — a six-year, $70 million contract offer — fell just short, and since announcing his decision to stay at UConn, Dan Hurley will now reportedly be signing a contract worth $50 million over 6 years, making him the highest-paid coach in college basketball. The notion that Hurley used this opportunity to interview with the Lakers solely to bump up his asking price at UConn is false. The university was already intending on giving Hurley “a significant pay raise” before the Lakers were even pursuing him. But of course, having LA hot on their tail surely sped up the process.
The Los Angeles Lakers' Plan B: JJ Redick
As for the Lakers' new head coach, JJ Redick will be coming to LA on a four year, $32 million deal. Though Redick has been at the forefront of the Lakers coaching search from the beginning, the fact that the 15-year NBA veteran has no coaching experience other than coaching his son's youth basketball team seems to be a sticking point for those who are critical of the choice. However, 15 years in the league is a good indicator — at least to me — that Redick will figure things out soon enough, and that's the hope the Lakers have too.
“Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the meeting described Redick as ‘impressive' during his visit to Los Angeles, diving deep into his offensive and defensive philosophies and displaying his passion for the sport that foreshadowed a willingness to submit himself to the countless working hours for the modern head coach.”
It's not as if Mike Breen is the one leaving the ESPN announce desk to take over the Los Angeles Lakers. JJ Redick has been in high pressure moments and talent-stacked locker rooms since he was 18 years old. He's familiar with the grind of an NBA regular season, and he spent four years playing in Los Angeles for the Clippers.
Sure, Dan Hurley would've been the desired choice. But if JJ Redick is your Plan B, that's an outcome you can feel confident about.
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