Dan Hurley missing out on three-peat after March Madness exit has Lakers fans losing it: “Coulda been coaching Lebron and Luka right now”

Dan Hurley was in line to take over as the new head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers but decided to stay with UConn.

Dan Hurley missing out on three-peat after March Madness exit has Lakers fans losing it: “Coulda been coaching Lebron and Luka right now”

Dan Hurley declined the Los Angeles Lakers' offer to stay at UConn

Before the Los Angeles Lakers started their 2024-25 season, they had to finalize on a new head coach. JJ Redick eventually got the job, but before he signed on the dotted line, UConn head coach Dan Hurley was the frontrunner.

The Lakers had hosted the UConn HC and his wife Andrea Hurley. But once they returned, their hesitations caused her to rip into her husband for bringing in this stress in their otherwise calm and peaceful life.

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The Lakers though, tried to tempt Dan Hurley with a six-year $70 million offer. However, it seems his mind was made up as he used that offer to negotiate a new one with the University and stayed put. He later revealed that the prospect of a three-peat along with family ties did not make the Lakers deal lucrative enough.

The UConn Huskies though, missed a major chunk of their championship winning players. Two of their most important players, Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan are in the NBA. Other star players graduated.

This meant, this season was going to be difficult, especially against other standout programs. But Hurley still wanted to win. When they started their 2025 NCAA March Madness tournament, they easily defeated a lower ranked rival.

But earlier today, they went up against the No. 3 ranked Florida Gators. For much of the matchup, the game was in UConn’s hands. But a late flurry from Florida downed the back-to-back national champions. This ends Hurley’s dream of winning a three-peat.

Fans unload onto Dan Hurley for missing out on three-peat

Had Dan Hurley and UConn quietly headed home after their loss, it might not have caught this much attention. Instead, after the game, Dan Hurley was seen lashing out against the officiating. A video of this tirade ended up going viral on social media.

Naturally, fans got the chance to troll him for his decisions. Most notably, to leave the chance to coach the Los Angeles Lakers in order to try for a three-peat. Now fans believe he is left with nothing and with a team that is not capable of competing for the NCAA title. Check out examples of those comments below.

Fans feel Dan Hurley should have known from the start what he was getting into. He seemingly guaranteed that UConn will try for a three-peat despite losing those players. On top of that, all of this whining comes even when the team almost missed out even making it to March Madness.

The team was not close to being at last season’s title winning best. Despite all that, for Dan Hurley to continuously call out the officiating seemed a bit over the top. Fans believe he could have cut out the theatrics and accepted the defeat graciously or become the Lakers head coach.

Dan Hurley’s fireworks could have been too much for Lakers

Towards the end of this college basketball season, Dan Hurley was asked why the team struggled. He mentioned that Clingan and other former players accepted hard coaching. Which means, the current UConn Huskies men’s basketball team are not as accepting when it comes to hard coaching.

That brings up the question whether the Los Angeles Lakers players would have accepted the same. Even if one sets aside the Luka Doncic trade, the team that played together up until the end of January was a mix of veteran and young stars.

Gilbert Arenas feels Hurley’s methods could have caused friction with upper management. But his hard coaching style combined with all the yelling he does might not have been received well. LeBron James and his teammates are all NBA superstars earning millions.

That style of coaching might have caused a lot of fireworks amongst the team. Even if James’ veteran leadership did help the team adjust to that coaching style, with the way egos young athletes earning millions possess, the method might not have worked out long into the future.