Dan Hurley answers whether he still wants to coach in NBA

Feb 18, 2023; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Dan Hurley watches from the sideline as they take on the Seton Hall Pirates at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

After notably giving the Los Angeles Lakers the stiff arm this offseason, Dan Hurley is speaking out on the possibility of still making an NBA crossover at some point.

The UConn head coach Hurley appeared for an interview this week on “In Depth with Graham Bensinger.” During the interview, Hurley addressed his decision to turn down the Lakers’ head coaching job and said that coaching in college allows him to make an impact on the lives of young men in a way that being an NBA coach cannot quite achieve.

“I love being a part of this transformation for the last point in a young man’s life where you can really have a big impact on how their life is going to play out,” said Hurley, per Sports Illustrated. “Like what the man becomes. That, to me, was what I realized that I love about being a college coach that you don’t get to do as an NBA coach because that’s not the relationship there.”

Hurley also answered the question of if he still wants to coach in the NBA some day.

“I don’t know,” Hurley replied. “I don’t know about that. If you’re not going to take the Lakers job, then what job are you going to take?”

Hurley, 51, seriously flirted with the Lakers job this summer and seemed to come very close to accepting it (despite a strong negative reaction from his wife initially). But he ultimately chose to return to UConn for his seventh career season as their head coach and a shot at a third consecutive NCAA title (which no men’s basketball team has done since UCLA’s legendary “seven-peat” from 1967-73).

Indeed, Hurley raises a good point about how the Lakers’ job is one of the most storied in sports, and saying no to even them might mean deep down that he does not actually want to go to the NBA. But whether or not Hurley eventually does flirt with the NBA again may ultimately depend on his new contract with UConn (which he signed soon after turning down the Lakers). It almost certainly contains provisions dictating how much Hurley will owe UConn if he makes the jump to the NBA (a number that will presumably drop down after every ensuing year).