How can you refuse to coach the Lakers for $70 million? Just ask Dan Hurleywho has just done so, preferring to stay at Connecticut in the NCAA to aim for a historic three-peat in 2025.
But we must not believe that the coach chose this option lightly. “This decision hurt my heart,” he recognizes. “Sunday evening, Monday morning, when I had this deadline in my head, I was torn and I didn't really know what I was going to do before going to bed. »
In the wake of this refusal, we learned that Dan Hurley, extended for six years and $33 million in 2023, would see his salary be increased in Connecticut. Were the contacts with the Lakers useful in raising the stakes with his university?
Money important to leave, not to stay
“One of the worst things I heard was that I used this leverage to improve my situation at UConn,” assures the technician. “I don’t need that here, we’ve won two college titles in a row.” It was never a lever for me. I had a contract for several weeks, and the question of salary had been settled for a while. Afterwards, there is the NIL, the staff salaries and various things that I wanted to adjust and with which I am not yet comfortable. But the idea that this is a conspiracy to get UConn a better contract is just a lazy theory. »
On the other hand, the double NCAA champion does not deny that, to bring him to Los Angeles, the Californian franchise should undoubtedly have offered him a bigger check.
“To leave, there is a certain number to reach. To leave, at any time in your life, finances are important. We can't say it's not a factor.”he assumes. “To stay, it’s not a problem. To stay somewhere, like at UConn, it's never going to be about the money. »
Still, the idea of coaching the Lakers was particularly tempting.
“It’s something I wanted to explore. It was an opportunity to coach the Lakers, to coach one of the greatest players of all time, to coach one of the best players in the NBA [Anthony Davis], to lead such a storied franchise and follow in the footsteps of some of the greatest coaches of all time, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. It was something I had in mind and needed to explore and consider. »
