Lakers’ Dan Hurley contract offer revealed as UConn coach snubs LeBron James and the NBA

As he said he would, Dan Hurley on Monday made his decision as to whether he would accept the Los Angeles Lakers‘ job offer or remain at Connecticut as the Huskies‘ men’s basketball coach.

The decision will disappoint Los Angeles, which was hoping to convince Hurley to leave UConn for the NBA, where he would have had the chance to coach an admirer of his in LeBron James. But Hurley will remain in Storrs, Connecticut, where he will continue to lead the two-time defending NCAA champion Huskies.

Hurley turned down a six-year contract from LA

ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that Hurley would spurn LA to stay in Storrs, doing so by rejecting a six-year contract offer from the Lakers. ESPN reported that the Lakers were willing to pay Hurley $70 million over the length of that six-year contract, which immediately would have made him one of the NBA’s highest-paid coaches.

Hurley has revitalized UConn’s men’s program and is hoping to win a third consecutive national championship in 2025. He is under contract to coach the Huskies until 2029 after signing an extension with the school last year. In April, UConn became the first team to defend the national title since Florida in 2007, and no team has won three successive championships since UCLA between 1967 and 1969.

As for the Lakers, Los Angeles could re-engage in talks with former player and ESPN analyst J.J. Redick, who has a podcast with LeBron and has been likened to legendary coach/executive Pat Riley. But missing out on Hurley, the team’s reported top candidate, will be a humbling experience for the Lakers’ leadership.