The Los Angeles Lakers have moved on from Dan Hurley. Or, Dan Hurley has moved on from the Lakers. However you want to frame it, one thing remains true — the Lakers need a head coach, and fast. But is it as easy as picking up where they left off?
Initially, JJ Redick was the Lakers' top pick to replace Darvin Ham as head coach. However, Dan Hurley's back-to-back championships and winning pedigree blinded the Lakers. They saw Dan Hurley was in negotiations with UConn, figured they'd take a shot at him, flew him out, and obviously came up empty-handed. Could this, for lack of a better term, situation-ship with Hurley come back to haunt the Lakers?
NBA insider says JJ Redick could be turned off by Lakers
Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill reported that this fling between Hurley and the Lakers might actually affect JJ's attitude towards accepting a job in LA. "Some folks around the league feel JJ Redick won’t want to be involved with this circus, and that he won’t want to be a second choice," Goodwill said, adding, "but he wants to coach."
Basically, Redick went from being the winning lottery ticket to a constellation prize. If you're a visual learner, don't worry. I got you.
Dan Hurley is a proven winner and you can't say the same about Redick, since he has no prior coaching experience. What you can say is that Redick, unlike Hurley, knows what it takes to play a grueling 82-game NBA schedule. This isn't the NCAA where they play half as many games in a season. It's the NBA, and Redick played in it for 15 years. It's safe to assume he picked up a thing or two from his coaches in that time.
Based on his connection with LeBron James and his clear desire to join the sidelines, It'd be surprising if Redick passed on the Lakers. In the end, if it comes down to choosing where to work between Charlotte, Detroit, and Los Angeles, the answer is pretty subjective. Yet, it remains to be seen if Redick's desire to coach outweighs his pride.