Dave McMenamin On Dan Hurley & Lakers Talks- Mason & Ireland

Those of you who don't know we all broadcast  games for the Lakers and the person that covers   the Lakers for ESPN is Dave McMenamin, who right  now is on assignment in Boston to cover game one   of the finals and is he's got like a phone coming  out of both ears uh his pocket everywhere else and   he's nice enough to give us a few minutes hi Dave  how are you I'm uh yeah kind of burning the candle   at both ends here John but uh you know it it never  really stopped with the Laker job so no all right   so miles away we' be let me start here I have been  told and you and I talked to a lot of the same   people but although you and I haven't talked today  to slow my role on Danny Hurley that whereas Woj's   report that he's being targeted is very accurate  there's mutual interest there but it's nowhere   close to being done are you hearing the same  thing yeah that's great information that you're   hearing John listen this has been a process where  they've certainly vetted Danny Hurley they've done   their research talked to people they still got to  really get to know him though and see if there's a   fit between Danny Hurley the man and the Lakers  the organization and you know obviously they've   liked what they've heard so far and it's allowed  them to continue this Pursuit so there's no reason   why we wouldn't believe that it will continue to  progress but it has to actually progress before   we start talking about a leading candidate or an  inevitable candidate Danny Hurley when you saw him   win the championship for the second year in a row  he sounded like a guy who's going to be a lifer   in college if not at Yukon when did this did he  always have a secret urge to coach in the NBA that   none of us knew about well it's actually not that  secret Michael if you look back at some of the   interviews that he's done subsequent to winning  his second straight Championship with UCONN he's   let it be known that he has NBA aspirations and  obviously you think about the basketball family   that he comes from his father is a legendary high  school basketball coach his brother was one of the   all-time great college basketball players at Duke  and has been a college basketball coach as well if   he was able to Parlay this level of success at the  N level it's not just and then go to the NBA it's   not just for him it's for as the entire Hurley  family and quite frankly if you asked him five   years ago is he going to be a college basketball  lifer he probably says it hundred times out of 100   I'm gonna do it but basketball has changed  completely at the NCAA level I mean I was   texting with Danny Hurley before I even knew he  was gonna be a candidate I was texting with him   after the second championship and uh you know a  few months back and he got back to me a few days   later of Dave thanks for the congratulations  etc etc and uh I'm like you know hopefully you   can enjoy this one and he was already out on the  road recruiting uh looking to try to get guys out   of the transfer portal uh it's the Wild Wild West  inaa hoops right now and it doesn't mean that the   M doesn't have its own challenges certainly with  the new tax aprons uh and the punitive structure   of the new CBA but generally you're going to make  more money and it's not your job to recruit it'll   be on Genie bus and Kurt ramit pinkin company to  do the recruiting so that that will be a very very   important thing for him to decide to come to to  the Lakers aside from the money yeah absolutely   it takes that challenge that is really more of a  headache than a challenge when it comes to college   sports off his plate and he gets to dive into  the thing that he's also really made a name for   himself is his offensive Innovation and he's been  running sets that have impressed College Scouts   excuse me impressed NBA Scouts impressed other NBA  coaches have they as they've watched this dominant   run by the Huskies through the last two NCAA M  championships and you know listen if you're a   basketball lifer and you get the opportunity to  not only pair with the Lakers brand that we all   know carries so much resonance but get to match  wits with someone like LeBron James that's that's   a very real Temptation and and that's why you know  we heard reports today that Danny Hurley told his   players that at Yukon they're gathering for some  sort of offseason workout that yeah there there's   validity to this thing and we're gonna play this  thing out Dave McManaman is our guest he's in   Boston covering game one of the NBA Finals Dave  I'm surprised that this didn't leak I mean in the   NBA in 2024 there are so many people you're one  of them I'm another one that are kind of assigned   fulltime to the NBA and somehow some way this  was kept Under Wraps are you as surprised as I am   about that absolutely I mean think about the ones  it's far more often that it's a slow drip that   all of a sudden you see the faucet pouring down  right but hey you know Pal Gasol became a Laker   in the dead of the night I mentioned that yeah  that's the last time I that's the last time yeah   you're right um and so it's rare but it can happen  and and I will say this you know Rob pinka is   someone who doesn't always show his cards and he  doesn't do a ton of media so I don't think the fan   base has got a chance to know him all that well  and I think that's part of his strategy is is is   Rob is comfortable keeping stuff close to the vet  uh when he's in pursuit of something and not all   people in today's industry are that way um it  you know sometimes it could lead to a reputation   of maybe not being the best collaborator uh but  at the same time when you're trying to leverage   a very sensitive situation it can give you a leg  up in business Dave what happened to uh because I   was excited about the JJ reic prospects being the  next Laker coach and everybody was thinking boy it   looks like that could be the next coach he looks  like a young Pat Riley's going to take over over   what happened obviously Danny hur's another very  attractive candidate but uh did the Lakers get off   the JJ bandwagon what happened there Michael as  far as I know uh and I haven't seen any reporting   contrary to this um and I've been working on some  finals coverage so I may have missed something JJ   reic Remains the candidate again this is not an  inevitability that Danny Hurley will become the   next head coach to the Lakers and so until that  process kind of moves forward uh through a few   very necessary steps uh you still should consider  JJ reick a candidate to be the next head coach of   the Lakers and James Vergo as well another  candidate to be the next head coach to the   Lakers well if I'm mukan I would hate to lose  Danny you think they're GNA try to throw some   kind of crazy deal at him to persuad State well  let me piggyback on that Dave last thing for you   because you're actually working uh what does what  does your S I know I'm asking you to speculate   here but what is your sense of what this deal  would look like in structure in other words do   you have any sense would Danny want years would  he want to be like the highest paid guy is it a   combination of both what what do you think the  structure of the deal would look like if those   two team Hurley and the Lakers could come together  right so John this is just pure speculation right   you know that after the first championship he  signed a six-year extension with Yukon in the   neighborhood of $32 million uh there will be  another restructure owed to him basically by   the Huskies because he won the second Championship  that's just how business is done right so let's   just say that structure restructuring would get  him to the eight to n million doll range you're   gonna have to beat that for starters right uh  and then you know I've heard speaking to people   in the industry that kind of the whispered the  lane uh talk about kuy's interest in Dan Hurley   would have been tendering an offer into 10 to12  million range so you probably got to clear that   as well and for someone leaving a place where he's  a certified Legend you know even if he struggles   with nil uh not that he's shown any sign that he  would but if there's an adjustment period there   he has a long road of job security at Yukon he's  only 51 years old you know he could stay there for   another 10 years and so the the typical head coach  uh starting job you're talking about usually a   four-year deal and rare occasions a fiveyear deal  it wouldn't shock me if we're talking about a deal   north of $10 million a year and more than five  seasons yeah I would ja me I think that's a a very   safe projection and it'll be interesting to see  hey I lied one last quick thing as far as you know   as far as you know have ad and LeBron had a chance  to talk to Danny yet no uh they haven't and and I   I've I've reported this on Sports Center LeBron  James has not spoken to the Lakers organization   about Dan Hurley has not spoken to them about JJ  reick or any other candidate uh he's made it clear   through his Representatives that he respects  the process the Lakers have to go through he   wants them to do what's best for the organization  and recognizes that whoever they hire will most   likely be with the organization Beyond his playing  days now with LeBron you never know maybe we'll   be covering him play till he's 50 but that's one  point and then as far as ad goes obviously that's   the best player on the Lakers right now it's not  LeBron it's ad ad has no relationship with Danny   Hurley so clearly that would be something that  that if I'm the Lakers that's a high priority   in making sure that they'll be able to work with  one another um before I make it that higher Dave   I really appreciate you doing this I know I I've  I've covered the finals and I know how your your   phone's ringing and they're grabbing at you to  do 19 different things so thanks for making a   few minutes for us and uh enjoy Boston as  much as you can as a uh as a as a Laker   reporter and Dave if you see you see uh Cedric  Maxwell tell him I hate him oh I will do that