Dan Hurley turned down the Lakers coaching vacancy 20 years after Coach K did the same
The Los Angeles Lakers found themselves repeating history in a very uncomfortable way on Monday.
As fate would have it, the team being turned down by UConn coach Dan Hurley comes 20 years after Los Angeles was infamously turned down by Duke coaching legend Mike Krzyzewski in summer 2004.
After the Lakers fired Phil Jackson following the team’s 2004 NBA Finals loss to the Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles made a play for Krzyzewski, who ultimately decided to return to Duke.
Hurley deciding against coaching the Lakers after winning back-to-back national championships at UConn has to leave a similarly bitter taste in the mouths of Los Angeles fans after missing out on Coach K two decades ago.
History repeats itself for the Los Angeles Lakers.
2004: Coach K says no to the Lakers
2024: Dan Hurley says no to the Lakers pic.twitter.com/EiUXbkZLIP— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) June 10, 2024
What makes this even more fascinating is the fact Krzyzewski is reportedly helping the Lakers find their coach after firing Darvin Ham earlier this year.
Of course, former NBA star JJ Redick played for Krzyzewski at Duke, which may well make him the favorite for the Lakers job with Hurley out of the picture.
No matter what happens, history has repeated itself for the Lakers in eerie fashion with two college coaching legends turning down the team 20 years a part.