If there’s one person who you know wants to see the Los Angeles Lakers absolutely nail their head coaching hire it’s Magic Johnson. As you might imagine, he had some thoughts on the news that UConn head coach Dan Hurley is a target.
Taking to X on Thursday, Magic called it “great news” to hear that the Lakers brass was speaking to Hurley. He praised Hurley for his achievements with the Huskies and believes that he would be a “game changer” for the organization if he were hired.
“I heard the great news that Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss and GM/VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka have had conversations with back-to-back NCAA champion and current UCONN Head Coach, Dan Hurley, about becoming the next Lakers Head Coach! I’m so excited and thrilled! This would be a game changer for the Lakers organization, LeBron, AD, the rest of the Laker players, Laker Nation and the NBA! Coach Hurley can coach his butt off lol,” Magic wrote.
Hurley just led UConn to the first back-to-back NCAA championship win in over a decade and has won over 70-percent of his games with the team since the 2018-19 season.
The only real knock on Hurley is his lack of NBA experience. Though there have been coaches who have enjoyed very successful without having coached anywhere before getting their first head coaching gig (Mavs head coach Jason Kidd became a head coach right after retiring from playing).
Though unlike Kidd or Billy Donovan, a coach who also parlayed back-to-back titles into an NBA coaching career, Hurley has no NBA experience whatsoever as either a coach or a player.
Hurley doesn’t have the job in the bag yet though so there’s no telling where the talks with the Lakers actually went. But if he does get the job, there will be a ton of hype.