Why Would Dan Hurley Fly Out To Los Angeles If He Wasn't Going To Take The Lakers Gig?

Why would Dan Hurley fly 3,000 miles to the West Coast and then leave the Los Angeles Lakers at the alter?

Imagine turning down a 6-year $70 million contract to be the Los Angeles Lakers' head coach. Well, that's exactly what Dan Hurley did earlier in the day, less than a week after the Lakers most likely leaked that Hurley was their top choice to become their new head coach.

In fact, on Friday morning, Hurley jumped on an airplane and flew over 3,000 miles to the West Coast to meet with Lakers GM Rob Pelinka and owner Jeanie Buss. The question is, why would Hurley knowingly fly out to Los Angeles if he wasn't going to take the gig in the first place?

The only feasible answer is that Hurley had some kind of issue with Pelinka or Buss.

I'm sure you will hear and read stories that the Lakers roster was one reason or that he really wanted to try to win a third consecutive National Championship at UCONN. All of those arguments need to be thrown out the door because he would have theoretically thought those things through before flying West.

Back in the day, the late great Jerry Buss would have never had a meeting with a coach or player if he hadn't thought he would close him. The fact is that Pelinka and Buss did not close Hurley, so he flew back East to go to a Billy Joel concert over the weekend.

The reality is once he stepped onto the airplane to fly back to the East Coast, the deal was dead.

"I am humbled by this entire experience," Hurley said in a statement released by the school. "At the end of the day, I am extremely proud of the championship culture we have built at Connecticut. We met as a team before today's workout and our focus right now is getting better this summer and connecting as a team as we continue to pursue championships."

THE UNDERRATED OPINION
Personally, I'm not sure Dan Hurley was the right coach for the job, as I was not convinced his style of in-your-face coaching would be well-received by today's NBA players.

Look, it's still a total egg-in-the-face moment for the Los Angeles Lakers, who essentially sent up the Bat Signal for everyone to see, only to be turned down.