Dan Hurley turned down a potential move to the NBA last year. Basketball fans are wondering if the UConn head coach will have another opportunity this offseason.
On Tuesday, the New York Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau days after getting eliminated from the Eastern Conference Finals. That creates another prominent NBA opening a year after Hurley spurned the Los Angeles Lakers to stay in college.
Following New York’s decision, the basketball world speculated that Hurley could again entertain an NBA overture.
“Let the Dan Hurley to the Knicks rumors begin,” Marc D’Amelio, the founder of a UConn NIL collective, wrote on social media.
“I absolutely hate this. Awful. Terrible,” radio host Adam Schein said of Thibodeau’s firing. “But…
I’ve said that if the Knicks make change there’s only 1 name.
Dan Hurley.”
“I was really hoping to get through June without two more weeks of a ‘Dan Hurley to the NBA’ news cycle,” Fox Sports radio host Aaron Torres wrote.
“I need somebody to convince me otherwise, but Dan Hurley becoming the Knicks next head coach makes WAY too much sense,” a fan claimed.
The Lakers reportedly offered Hurley a six-year, $70 million deal to leave the Huskies after winning back-to-back national championships. He instead signed a six-year, $50 million extension with UConn, and the Lakers hired JJ Redick to replace Darvin Ham.
Those events could indicate that Hurley is staying put, but perhaps the circumstances are different this summer.
UConn regressed in Hurley’s seventh season, going 24-11 and suffering a close second-round March Madness loss to Florida. Working in New York could also be more enticing than moving to Los Angeles for the Big East coach, who was born and raised in New Jersey.
Hurley admitted last year that it wasn’t an easy choice to stay in school.
“It was truly a gut-wrenching decision for me,” Hurley said on The Dan Le Batard Show. “Sunday night, going into Monday, where I kind of had a deadline in my mind, I was torn and I did not know really what I was going to do until I went to bed.”
It’s currently unclear if the Knicks have any interest in Hurley as a potential new head coach.
Related: Frank Isola Floats 1 Name For Next Coach Of The Knicks