Last Updated on July 25, 2024 by Mathew Diekhake
I think Dan Hurley made the right decision to stay at UConn. He has been a very good coach for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team so far and even though his new Salary at Uconn isn’t as much as he would have made playing for the Lakers, it’s still more than what Darvin Ham was making as the Lakers coach a few years ago. Then there are also tax considerations to think about. California is known to have a higher tax rate than other states in general.
If Dan Hurley can keep being regarded as a great coach of college basketball, he may even end up making more money in the long run because often a coach’s tenure in the NBA is quite short. If you don’t perform as a coach in the NBA, especially for a team like the Lakers that has very high expectations, you can lose your job in a year or two regardless of what your contract says. The NBA teams always have an out-clause in the contract. And if he were to lose his Lakers job within a season or two, how respected would he still be in the college basketball system? Probably not well-respected anymore. So I think he made the right choice.