UConn's Dan Hurley Would Have Been Bad Fit In NBA With Lakers (Here's Why)

UConn’s Dan Hurley was courted by the Los Angeles Lakers over the summer, but for Hurley’s own sake, it’s a blessing he stayed in the college game.

Hurley could be a really good NBA coach if he wanted to be, but he wouldn’t enjoy the NBA because, frankly, the players don’t play hard enough (not until the playoffs, anyway).

It’s not necessarily the players’ fault, either. Part of being an NBA coach is understanding (and not minding) that your players are facing a physically impossible 82-game schedule against the best run-and-jump athletes on Earth. Bringing top-notch intensity on a night-by-night basis is not going to happen (unless you’re Michael Jordan in the late 80s/early 90s).

Saturday’s UConn victory over Gonzaga was a vivid reminder of how desperately intense the best college programs are when they take the court, and how different of an approach this is when compared with your average NBA game. If you were in attendance at MSG on Saturday, you won’t see a harder-played basketball game at any point in the NBA this regular season — not even close.

Hurley feeds off of that kind of energy, something he discussed with FOX Sports’ John Fanta in the tunnels of MSG following the big win.

“I think that's the beautiful thing about college basketball: the intensity of college basketball, the life or death desperation that we have to win these games,” Hurley said.

“We didn't play basketball tonight, you know, we competed in a life (or) death fashion to win this game, and that's how we show up all the time.”

“And I think that's what makes sports great. I think sports are not that great when you have maybe the competitors where the most important thing isn't the life or death approach to winning. And I think that's what makes us fun to watch.”

Hurley is interested in pushing the limits of the human spirit, which isn’t exactly the motto of the NBA. Imagine him watching LeBron James and Anthony Davis play fake defense for two or three quarters every night (yikes).

Hurley's personality and coaching style are perfect for the college game, but he would have been a fish out of water in Hollywood.

The entire Hurley/Lakers saga was an elite (and possibly genius) marketing exercise for both sides, and nothing more.

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