It’s tough being a Los Angeles Lakers fan these days.
The team spoiled generations of fans with exciting basketball and championships, and everyone supporting the Purple and Blue has started treating any season without directly competing for the Larry O’Brien trophy as a failure.
While they recently won a banner in the NBA bubble, plenty of fans love putting asterisks on it, calling it a weird championship. Moreover, LeBron James isn’t getting any younger. It’s only a matter of time before the Lakers lose him, be it in free agency or retirement.
Due to this, the Lakers made a wild bid to get Dan Hurley into the team. The move for the UConn Huskies head coach makes sense due to the magnitude of their aspirations. However, everyone was still blindsided by the pursuit.
However, the back-to-back champion coach decided not to move forward with the Lakers and stick with the Huskies for one more year. The fallout was so massive that an analyst had one thing to say about the entire situation.
Bill Plaschke thinks the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dan Hurley debacle was an ’embarrassment’
When the Purple and Gold secured a meeting with Dan Hurley, many thought it was only a matter of time before he moved to Tinseltown and transformed the Lakers into winners.
However, the decision to back away dealt a massive blow to the Lakers. The entire thing emphasized the role as one of the most undesirable seats in the NBA. Bill Plaschke even went so far as to say it’s a smear on the Lakers’ name.
Per Andrew Elmquist of The Cold Wire:
As Bill Plaschke told Dan Patrick, “I thought it was embarrassing. The college coach flies out to LA to see the Lakers. He’s offered twice the money he’s making. Offered the chance to be the coach of the most celebrated franchise in pro sports… And he says nah.”
There used to be a time when almost everyone wanted to be on the Lakers. That is far from the truth today, even if there are still coaches who want the position.
It’s up to the execs to figure out what’s gone wrong with their approach and turn things around for the storied franchise.
For More Content
Message me at [email protected] for questions and opportunities. For more basketball content, click here!