A lot of discussion has gone around LA Lakers‘ next head coach, but is the position even worth it? After consideration of several names, Jeanie Buss’ franchise finally made an offer to Dan Hurley. But the Uconn Huskies’ head coach declined the offer. And now sportswriter Zach Lowe reacting to Hurley’s move, has stated that the Lakers’ job is anyway not that great. Amid all of this, ex-NBA star Metta World Peace has come forward in his former franchise’s defense.00

While re-posting NBA Central’s post featuring Lowe’s statement, Metta wrote, “The @LakersHead Coach Job is an incredible job. Great potential.” Notably, Peace played 6 seasons with the franchise in two different phases, and his only NBA championship (2010) also came with the Lakers. Additionally, his career’s one favorite moment — sinking the winning three-point shot against the Celtics — also came with the Lakers. “I love that moment… It’s the biggest shot of my career,” he once told the Los Angeles Times. So it was only natural for him to be defensive about his former team.

As for Lowe’s remarks against the Lakers, he seemed to agree with Dan Hurley declining the head coach job. “He’s (Hurley) the king of college basketball. The Lakers job is not that great of a job. They’re a play-in team pretty much every year in a conference that is only getting better all around them,” he said. However, he did not stop here in pointing out the flaws with Jeanie Buss’ franchise. Lowe highlighted LeBron’s age, the firing of coaches, and consistent bad runs among some issues with the team.

However, Hurley did not give any such statement or reasons behind declining the job, aside from the fact he has been really winning with the Huskies. “I am humbled by this entire experience,” Hurley said in a statement distributed by UConn. “At the end of the day, I am extremely proud of the championship culture we have built at Connecticut… Our focus right now is getting better this summer and connecting as a team as we continue to pursue championships,” he added.

After-effects of Dan Hurley rejecting Lakers’ job

Ever since the Huskies head coach rejected a reported $70 million offer to stay back with his college team, the Lakers have faced a lot of embarrassment in the NBA community. Hurley’s reason for not going because of a third championship temptation with Uconn may seem justified, but it has raised speculations that maybe the job position is not lucrative enough.        

Meanwhile, former Lakers’ star Lou Williams even went to the extent of stating that the franchise may regret firing Darvin Ham. “I’ll go viral, and I’ll say maybe [The Lakers] made a mistake by letting Darvin Ham go,” Williams said on FanDuel TV’s Run It Back. “It was very early in his career, very early in this process. Sometimes, you have to allow things to go and allow things to see what you’re going to get out of it,” he added. Notably, Ham coached the Lakers for just two seasons (2023 and 2024). But a clean sweep by the Nuggets in the 2023 playoffs and first-round elimination in the 2024 playoffs led to his firing.

However, amid all that is being said, former Phoenix Suns star Eddie Johnson had a different take on Hurley’s rejection. In a post on X, Johnson showed respect for the Huskies’ coach’s decision, but he doesn’t believe the reasoning. “He did not want that pressure. Good for him, his choice. But don’t try and convince me that winning 3 titles in watered down college basketball is better than winning 1 in LA,” he posted. And now, the most recent one to back the franchise has been Metta World Peace.  

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the Reese-Clark rivalry and more, watch this video.