NBA

Basketball world roasts Lakers as Dan Hurley opts to stay at UConn

Hurley, who's won two straight national titles at UConn, rejected a reported six-year, $70 million offer from the Lakers.

Dan Hurley is staying put.

UConn's two-time national champion head coach has rejected an offer from the Los Angeles Lakers and will remain with the Huskies, the university confirmed to NBC Connecticut on Monday.

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ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news.

The Lakers extended Hurley a six-year, $70 million contract to become the next head coach of the storied NBA franchise, according to Wojnarowski. The deal would have made Hurley one of the league's six highest-paid coaches, per Wojnarowski, at $11.66 million per year.

But Hurley already had an offer from UConn to make him one of the highest-paid college coaches before Los Angeles made its overture, Wojnarowski reported. Those contract talks between Hurley and the Huskies reportedly will continue.

Hurley, 51, has now turned down two high-profile jobs since leading UConn to a historic second consecutive national championship in April. The Jersey City, New Jersey, native also passed on a reported "massive" offer from the Kentucky Wildcats after John Calipari left for Arkansas.

Rather than jumping to another college program or to the NBA, Hurley is set to continue chasing more history in Storrs, Connecticut. The Huskies have a chance to become just the second men's program to ever win three straight titles next season. UCLA, which won seven consecutive national championships from 1967-73, is the only school to pull off a three-peat.

For the Lakers, meanwhile, it's back to the drawing board as they still need to fill vacancy left by the firing of Darvin Ham last month. JJ Redick and James Borrego reportedly are among the other candidates who have interviewed for the gig.

But after failing to lure Hurley to Hollywood, the Lakers were trolled by the basketball world:

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