Los Angeles: Dan Hurley turned down a six-year, $70 million offer from the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and remains the men’s basketball coach at the University of Connecticut.
The 51-year-old American, who guided the Huskies to the US college crown in 2023 and 2024 with the Lakers, will become one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA.
But Hurley refused the deal after meeting with the Lakers on Friday.
In a statement released Monday by the University of Connecticut, Hurley said he will remain in college basketball.
“The whole experience humbled me,” Hurley said.
Hurley is 141-58 in six seasons with Connecticut and has an overall collegiate coaching record of 292-163. Last year, he signed a six-year, $32.1 million contract with the Huskies.
The Lakers took over coaching duties after firing Darwin Ham last month.
Ham is 90-74 in the Lakers’ two seasons in the playoffs. But last year, the Lakers were eliminated by Denver in the first round after fighting back in last year’s Western Conference finals before losing to eventual NBA champion Denver.
Last season was quite successful for the Lakers as they won the first edition of the NBA regular season tournament, now known as the NBA Cup.
The Lakers last won the NBA Finals in 2020 and hope to rebuild with Anthony Davis, who turned 40 in December, and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player LeBron James.
