The Lakers were turned down by one two-time national champion college basketball head coach, but might have their eyes on another.
Dan Hurley will be staying at UConn after the Lakers “targeted” him for their head coaching job, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Monday.
Over the weekend, veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein wrote on his Substack page, The Stein Line, that former Villanova head coach Jay Wright should be considered as a “stealth candidate” to host the Lakers.
“I had been warned early on by one well-placed insider, for what it’s worth, to stay ready in case former Villanova coach Jay Wright emerged as a stealth candidate,” Stein wrote. “That backstory is sure to surface sooner rather than later… presumably soon after the Lakers do or don’t land Hurley.”
Wright, 62, retired from coaching in 2022 after reaching his fourth Final Four at Villanova.
Wright is currently an analyst for CBS Sports’ college basketball coverage.
Seth Davis, who works with Wright at CBS, did not see it as a likely scenario.
“It is literally more likely that I will be the next Lakers coach than Jay,” Davis wrote on X.
Nevertheless, when Wright retired, he did leave the door open a smidge to perhaps one day coach in the NBA.
“Not right now. That was something I always thought about,” Wright said, when asked if he’s thought about coaching in the NBA. “My experience with the Olympics kind of scratched that itch. … I kind of feel like I did it a little bit. And I loved coaching those guys.”
Before Hurley had emerged from out of nowhere to be named as the lead candidate for the Lakers job, JJ Redick had been reported as the frontrunner.
The Lakers fired Darvin Ham after failing to make it out of the Play-In Tournament, and have had seven coaches in the last 15 years.