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By Noah Camras
Contributing Sports Writer
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Earlier this week, University of Connecticut men's basketball coach Dan Hurley turned down an offer to be the next head coach Los Angeles Lakers.
Hurley, who's coming off back-to-back NCAA championships with the Huskies, decided to turn down a shot at coaching LeBron James to go for a three-peat at the collegiate level.
Hurley turned down a reported six-year, $70 million contract, one that would have ranked him among the six highest-paid coaches in the NBA.
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While it was reported the Lakers were preparing a "massive offer," the final contract details appeared to be a little low for Hurley's liking. However, it did also make sense that the Lakers wouldn't want to give $100 million to a coach with no experience at the NBA level.
Nonetheless, Hurley is staying at UConn, and has now started to speak out about his decision. Hurley was on the Dan Le Batard Show on Thursday morning, and was asked if there was any amount of money that could have led him to leave UConn for the Lakers.
Hurley chose his words carefully in answering the question, but made it clear a more enticing financial offer could have led him to take the job.
"To leave, there probably is (an amount of money)," Hurley said. "To say that it's not a motivating factor — the finances — to leave a place, it's definitely a thing."
Hurley made it clear that staying at UConn, where he and his family are comfortable, was easy, which is why it would have taken a large offer to sway him to leave. The Lakers, clearly, didn't give him that.
"To leave all that behind, there probably is a number," Hurley said. "I don't know what that (number) is."
This isn't a great look for the Lakers, who reportedly had Hurley as their No. 1 target throughout the process. If they were serious about bringing him to Los Angeles no matter what, they could have offered him a larger contract.
However, they felt comfortable with the reported $70 million, and that wasn't enough to lead him out of UConn. Now the Lakers will head back to the drawing board, with names like JJ Redick and James Borrego emerging as early favorites.
More news: The 5 Best Lakers Head Coach Candidates Now That Dan Hurley Has Turned Down Their Offer
The NBA Draft is less than two weeks away, so the Lakers will have to work fast if they want a head coach involved in that process.
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