Dan Hurley rejecting the Los Angeles Lakers’ relatively generous offer to be their head coach and deciding to stay at the University of Connecticut had people talking on Monday. Did he say no because the Lakers offered him “only” $70 million over six years, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski?
Did he say no because he didn’t want the headache or the pressure of coaching the Lakers?
Or did he say no simply because he’s very happy and content at Connecticut and he’s lived in the Northeast his whole life?
Now the Lakers are going back to the drawing board. As was the case before they reached out to Hurley, JJ Redick seems to be a big-time candidate for their head coaching job, as is James Borrego.
Lakers fans may ask, “Who wouldn’t want the job?” But others around the league may feel the opposite way.
It’s a Great Gig — But it Isn’t
On one hand, being the head coach of the Lakers is a very attractive and lucrative job. One has the opportunity to coach a franchise that has won 17 NBA championships, is the gold standard of basketball, has more worldwide fame and cachet than any other basketball team and is among the top five sports teams in the entire world when it comes to accomplishments and cachet.
For those who have what it takes, coaching the Lakers can take them to heights they previously only dreamed of. It happened to a 36-year-old former bit player and assistant coach named Pat Riley when he replaced the deposed Paul Westhead in 1981. At that point, no one other than perhaps Riley himself knew he had the makings of a great coach and leader.
Nine years and four world titles later, he had become a coaching titan, and after he left the Lakers in 1990, the New York Knicks sought him out to return them to greatness.
The current Lakers may not be championship-caliber, but they have a good, perhaps a very good, roster that may be able to be tweaked into an elite one this summer. Coaching them means the opportunity to work with LeBron James (presumably, at least) and Anthony Davis, who make up what is still one of the very best superstar duos around.
All this can make the Lakers’ head coaching gig shine like a crazy diamond, to paraphrase the title of the 1975 Pink Floyd song.
That song was written about one-time Pink Floyd singer, songwriter and guitarist Syd Barrett. As was the case with Barrett, the Lakers have allure and greatness, but they can also be seen as dysfunctional.
For that reason, being the Lakers’ head coach is also seen by some as toxic.
It is seen as toxic for the same reasons it can be seen as attractive: Because it’s the Lakers, and because it gives one the opportunity to coach LeBron James.
James is obviously one of the all-time greats, and even at age 39, he’s still an elite player. But he also has a reputation, at least among some, for undermining the authority of coaches and dictating a team’s personnel moves to his personal whims.
Why would a coach want the job when it could mean having James ignore him during huddles and passive-aggressively engineer a team-wide coup? James reportedly ignored Darvin Ham, the Lakers’ last head coach, and it was likely one of the factors that led to Ham being fired.
There is also a perception that the team’s front office is in disarray. Whether it’s because owner Jeanie Buss is unwilling or unable to pay enough money to non-stars, not to mention coaches, or because the front office doesn’t know how to build a winning time over time, or because of James’ alleged meddling, it doesn’t have the best reputation around the league.
Then there is the inherent pressure of coaching the Lakers. When they don’t meet expectations, someone has to be the scapegoat. During the James era, that someone has often seemed to be the head coach.
No matter what happens, or who ultimately takes the job, one thing is certain: It will not be boring. Unfortunately, boring and stable is exactly what the franchise could use right now.
