UConn’s Dan Hurley Received Text From LeBron James That Blew His Mind

The Huskies coach talked to James about the Lakers' head coaching gig last weekend.

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Even though UConn’s Dan Hurley ended up turning down the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job this week, he still had the jaw-dropping experience of something not too unlike winning back-to-back NCAA championships: receiving a text from LeBron James.

Hurley rejected the Lakers’ six-year, $70 million contract offer on Monday, choosing to return to his Huskies team instead. The 51-year-old coach recently revealed a few juicy details from his decision to stay in Storrs, one of which involved a friendly text exchange with the Lakers star.

“We had some text messages,” Hurley said on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Thursday. “Incredible message from him over the course of the weekend. Just talking about basketball and some different things and letting me know that if he was there in L.A. that I'd have his support. Just like, think about that, man. That blew my mind… It blew my mind when you get a text message from LeBron James.”

.@dhurley15 reveals he exchanged text messages with LeBron James before deciding to return to UConn pic.twitter.com/n3N4TpsVMh

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) June 13, 2024

It would appear as though James supported Hurley up until the very end, as the Huskies coach said he and James continued texting even after he decided to turn down the Lakers’ job. 

Hurley will return to UConn primed to become one of the highest-paid coaches in college basketball while James, who holds a $51.4 million player option for the 2024-25 season, faces a more uncertain future this offseason.

After missing out on Hurley, the Lakers have reportedly turned their sights on ESPN analyst JJ Redick as a top head coaching candidate.