Former NBA player and current analyst Brian Scalabrine has voiced skepticism regarding UConn head coach Dan Hurley’s potential move to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Scalabrine, while acknowledging Hurley’s coaching prowess, expressed doubts about the timing and motivations behind the Lakers’ rumored interest in him.
In a recent appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Scalabrine questioned Hurley’s decision to pursue the Lakers position at this juncture, particularly given the uncertainties surrounding the team’s roster and draft plans.
“It doesn’t seem like he would want that job,” he said. “If you’re Danny Hurley, can’t you get any job in the world? The Laker job doesn’t seem like a great job. But it’s L.A., it’s LeBron James. I guess you would go for that.
“But if Danny Harly wanted to throw his hat in the ring, why didn’t he do it earlier? Why are you waiting till now when they’re on the last hour about to hire JJ Redick and all of a sudden Dan Hurley comes in.”
Scalabrine made it clear that he wouldn’t want to take the Lakers job at present with how the roster is constructed and reported intention to draft Bronny James in this year’s NBA Draft. He couldn’t believe that Hurley would want that either.
“I want a good roster with some draft picks, where they’re not talking about drafting Bronny. I wouldn’t want to deal with [that]. Danny Hurley? Danny Hurley? He wants to deal with that?” he said.
Reflecting on the Lakers’ coaching search, Scalabrine raised concerns about the process, suggesting that podcast appearances may have influenced the selection of candidates like Hurley and former player JJ Redick.
“I said this two years ago – it’s amazing you got to be on JJ Redick’s podcast for people to know he’s a good coach. Just watch him coach,” he said. “Two years ago he’s calling out actions, secondary action and his team is going through it with aggression and yet checking off going to second, third, fourth, fifth option. That is insane.
“I said it two years ago. And yet it only happens when he’s on a podcast? I don’t understand how the NBA things work. If Danny Hurley is your guy, why he not your guy four months ago, three months ago? Why is it jus now that he’s your guy? It makes no sense to me.”
When asked to choose between Redick and Hurley for the Lakers coaching role, Scalabrine unequivocally endorsed Hurley’s coaching acumen.
“Hurley all day. I might take Hurley over 20 NBA coaches. The guy’s nasty as a coach. Elite at what he does. I just don’t understand how it works,” he said.
Scalabrine proposed an alternative strategy for Hurley, advising him to leverage his success at UConn to attract interest from NBA teams and secure a more favorable coaching opportunity.
“If I was Danny Hurley, I don’t know Danny Hurley that well, but if I was Danny Hurley, go back to Yukon and then let everybody know that you are interested in going to the NBA because there are some really good jobs out there. I think that some presidents, owners, GMs would bend over backwards to get Danny Hurley and he might be able to pick his job,” Scalabrine said.
Some reports suggest that Hurley is “50-50” on taking the Lakers job. Either way, his decision is expected to come soon.
