For over two decades, it has been viewed as an amazing opportunity to be able to coach LeBron James. That’s one-upped by a lifetime of the Los Angeles Lakers marketing themselves as the team that you’d love to coach. In the waning years of Kobe Bryant’s career, the allure that the Lakers’ head coaching job had begun to fade. It’s never pretty taking on the Lakers job when the team is low on talent. You can ask the likes of Mike Brown and Luke Walton for starters. But When the team does have talent, job security can still be an issue if your name isn’t Phil Jackson.
Recently, The University of Connecticut’s Dan Hurley turned down a six-year $70 million offer from the Lakers. What was seen as a shock and a loss for the Lakers by many media members, they now have to go back to the drawing board. The optics of such a storied franchise having trouble solidifying its coaching future isn’t good. It’s also further compounded because of the two superstar talents who are James and Anthony Davis. Both ballot hall of famers when the time comes, the expectations are high in any season that they’re playing.
As alluded to previously, coaching the Lakers comes with inherent pressure. Up until this week, they were tied with the Boston Celtics for the most championships in NBA history. With 17 championships to their name, any incoming head coach is expected to steer the team toward gold. Now I’m sure that Hurley was up for that task. At the end of the day, that’s what competition is all about, wanting to be the best.
That said, I don’t think that Hurley’s issue was championship expectations. Hell, he’s on the heels of going back-to-back as NCAA champion with the Huskies. However, coaching superstar players like LeBron and A.D. does come with another set of malarkey. Coaches in this position take the brunt of the blame. Frank Vogel coached the Lakers to their most recent championship in 2020. They were in the bubble, under the most unique circumstance in recent history. Within less than two years of that win, he was relieved of his duties by the Lakers. So it’s safe to say that the gig is just no picnic.
Lastly, although we’re talking about millions of dollars, what the Lakers offered Hurley wasn’t up to snuff. It wouldn’t have made Hurley even a top-five paid head coach in the league. Once you factor in all the moving parts of coaching the Lakers, I can imagine that Hurley didn’t believe the juice was worth the squeeze. So ultimately, is it coaching this generation’s G.O.A.T. the core of the issues in this coaching search? I say yes. I love the King as much as the next guy, but his presence on this team turns this job into a unique scenario. Ultimately, the Lakers will find a person for the job. But they whiffed on bringing in a reputable name that could elicit respect from an experienced team.
