Sports
Plaschke: Dan Hurley rejection is another humiliation for Lakers brand that has lost its luster
Dan Hurley is considered one of the best basketball minds on the planet.
He doesn’t want to work for the Lakers.
Dan Hurley was offered more than double his current salary as the current Connecticut coach — $70 million — to leave Storrs for Hollywood.
He told the Lakers to keep their money.
Dan Hurley, a former high school coach, was given a chance to lead basketball’s highest-profile team in its most glamorous city for a Lakers head coaching job that would offer him generational wealth and change his career arc forever.
He blew them off.
Certainly, this speaks admirable volumes about the priorities of an East Coast guy who would eschew a walk on the red carpet for a chance to stay among family and try to win a third consecutive NCAA title.
But this says more about the Lakers.
This says the Lakers must have one of the worst head coaching jobs in the history of organized basketball.
This says the Lakers’ front office must be viewed as an unadulterated mess.
This says LeBron James must be considered such a coach killer that even the most secure coach in the game wants no part of him.
This is embarrassing.
This is as embarrassing as when Tyronn Lue turned them down five years ago over issues of money and control.
This is almost as embarrassing as when Mike Krzyzewski turned them down 20 years ago to spend the rest of his career in Durham, N.C.
This is humiliating for Lakers fans to watch a college coach who has never worked a moment in the NBA refuse a chance to work for the most celebrated of NBA franchises.
This is demeaning for a Lakers team that possesses arguably the greatest player in basketball history, and one of the top 10 players in the current league, and yet were still snubbed as if they were the junior varsity.
This is disillusioning for a Lakers franchise that Hurley personally examined during his recent interview here, saw the best they had to offer, and said … nah.
And this is bad for Rob Pelinka. This is really bad for Rob Pelinka.
Barely one year after he seemingly gained job security as executive vice president and general manager by building a supporting cast that helped the Lakers battle into the Western Conference finals, Pelinka has just whiffed on the most important part of his job … for the third time in five years.
Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, left, talks with coach Darvin Ham before a game in March.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
He is the one who blew it with Lue in 2019, instead settling for Frank Vogel, who won a championship in 2020 but ultimately didn’t command the type of respect that would have given him staying power. Lue did. Lue would still be their coach.
Pelinka is also the one who blew it with Darvin Ham, hastily giving a first head coaching job to a nice guy who just wasn’t ready. When the players sensed Ham’s strategic weaknesses, they pounced, and he never recovered.
So here we go again, a Pelinka coaching search for the third time in five years, and what happens? He gets it wrong again.
He seemingly settled on a horrible choice in JJ Redick — never coached anybody at any level above youth league — and then smartly realized his mistake and took a hearty swing for arguably one of the best coaches anywhere, a two-time defending NCAA champion boss with toughs and smarts and tons of charisma.
Hurley is a unicorn, but so are the Lakers, and it was a match made in purple-and-gold heaven.
Most thought the Lakers would land him. How could the Lakers not land him?
Wasn’t this the same Lakers organization that talked the great Phil Jackson into coming out of retirement twice? Wasn’t this the same Lakers organization that always acquired the prize player, whomever they wanted, whenever they wanted, from Wilt to Kareem to Shaq to LeBron to A.D.?
Not anymore.
This should have been a slam dunk, but it was instead an airball, and the abject failure to land Hurley shows the depths to which the organization’s reputation has fallen.
There was a time when an emerging coach like Hurley would have walked barefoot from Storrs to the Southland to work for the Lakers. These days he barely spends a day here before hustling back home to where he feels he has a chance to win.
Hurley was offered a six-year contract, meaning James couldn’t have fired him, and he still said no.
Hurley was given enough money to become one of the NBA’s six highest paid coaches before having coached his first NBA game, and he still said no.
He was given the keys to the entire Lakers kingdom, he could have rebuilt one of America’s most famed basketball cultures in his likeness, it was a gift never previously bestowed to any Lakers coach, not even Jackson.
And still, he said no.
Pelinka needed to close this deal. Pelinka should never have gone after Hurley if he couldn’t close this deal.
Given Hurley’s reputation as a winner, this snub makes it look as if he thinks the Lakers are losers.
Like, they can’t win with Pelinka in charge. Like, they can’t succeed with LeBron in control. Like, they’re going nowhere, and Dan Hurley was not down for that ride.
Who knows, maybe this looming nightmare of a Bronny James draft pick also played on his mind. Maybe he was told the Lakers were taking the unqualified kid with the 55th pick and maybe he just didn’t want the hassle.
It is understood that money was not a factor, that Pelinka could have upped the fair offer to an outlandish $100 million and it still wouldn’t matter.
That’s worse. One would have wished it was only about money. Instead, it is apparently about the entire Lakers organization, and owner Jeanie Buss better finally take note.
Your house is falling. Your reputation is diminishing. Your future is dimming.
Your team still has curb appeal with LeBron and A.D. and the incredible business workings of executive Tim Harris, but the foundation is crumbling.
The smart people in the basketball world apparently don’t trust you. The accomplished people in the basketball world apparently don’t believe in you. Rebuilding and reshaping in the wake of LeBron’s retirement is going to be difficult with your front office as constituted.
So where do they go from here? Who has any idea? Who has any trust in anything they do? Their coach will be at least a second choice, that’s for sure, and it will result in the most awkward introductory news conference since Vogel arrived.
This is a bad job, and it just got much worse.
Don’t look now, but the Lakers are no longer the Lakers.
Actually, look now, because Dan Hurley just said it.
Sports
Indy 500: Counting Down The 10 Best Finishes In Race History
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The best Indianapolis 500 finish could be subjective, depending on which driver a fan was rooting for to win.
It certainly is in the eye of the beholder.
So take this list for what it’s worth. One view of the 10 best finishes in Indianapolis 500 history. Of course, it skews to more recent decades when the runs have come a little faster and the finishes have had a tendency to be a little closer.
We’ll add one each day to this list of fantastic finishes ahead of the 110th running of the Indy 500 on May 24 (12:30 p.m. ET on FOX).
10. Ericsson outduels O’Ward (2022)
After a red flag, Marcus Ericsson held off Pato O’Ward in a two-lap shootout. The shootout didn’t last two laps, though, as there was a crash on the final lap behind them. Ericsson had a comfortable lead when the red flag came out for a crash with four laps to go, a situation where in past Indianapolis 500 races, they likely would have ended the race under caution with Ericsson as the winner.
9. Foyt survives chaos (1967)
How does a driver who wins by two laps end up on this list? It’s because the win nearly didn’t happen on the last lap. A big crash with cars and debris littering the frontstretch just ahead of Foyt as he came to the checkered flag forced him to navigate through the wreckage for the win.
8. Sato can’t catch Franchitti (2012)
This was one of those finishes where the leader holds on for the win, but boy did the leader have to hold on. Takuma Sato tried to pass Dario Franchitti early on the final lap but to no avail and Franchitti sped off for the victory. This was one of those Indy 500s that made you hold your breath all the way to the checkered flag.
Sports
UCLA softball pummels South Carolina to advance to NCAA super regional
No. 8 UCLA stuck with right-hander Taylor Tinsley throughout the Los Angeles Regional and that faith in the senior paid off.
During the Bruins’ NCAA tournament opener at Easton Stadium, Tinsley gave up 10 runs before her teammates rallied for a walk-off win. She returned less than 24 hours to pitch against South Carolina, giving up two earned runs in a victory. Tinsley was back in the circle Sunday afternoon, yielding one run in UCLA’s 15-1 victory over the Gamecocks to advance to the super regionals.
“I am proud of Taylor’s resiliency, the ability to do whatever she can to help this team,” UCLA coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said. “She got stronger through the weekend. I am proud of that.”
Tinsley and her teammates will host Central Florida in a super regional that begins Friday.
“I feel good,” Tinsley said after pitching three key games in three days. “I could have gone more innings if needed.”
South Carolina right-hander Jori Heard gave up only one hit through two innings, keeping UCLA’s potent bats relatively quiet. The Gamecocks had runners on first and second with two outs in the second, but Tinsley escaped the inning with a pop-up to left field.
The Bruins got on the board first with a two-run home run from left fielder Rylee Slimp in the third inning. The Bruins followed it up by loading the bases with no outs in the fifth for right fielder Megan Grant.
Grant cooked up a grand slam to make it 6-0. She has 40 home runs, extending her hold on the NCAA single-season home run record. Oklahoma freshman Kendall Wells trails Grant with 37 homers.
“Its just incredible because I am blessed to be able to say the number 40,” Grant said.
South Carolina broke through on an RBI single from left fielder Quincee Lilio to cut UCLA’s lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning after being held to just one hit since the first inning. The Gamecocks couldn’t cash in the rest of the way.
The Bruins resumed scoring in the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and Grant at bat again. Fans at Easton Stadium anticipated another grand slam, holding up their cellphones hoping to catch some magic. Grant served up a two-run RBI single to expand the lead 8-1.
Jordan Woolery added to the scoring with a two-run RBI double down the left-field line, and Kaniya Bragg hit a home run to left-center field. Soo-jin Berry put a bow on the win with one more home run.
Sports
Pro wrestling star learns what ‘land of opportunity’ means in US as he details journey from Italy to America
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Cristiano Argento has been tearing up opponents in the ring for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) as he worked his way up the ladder to get a few shots at some gold.
But the path to get to one of the most prestigious pro wrestling companies in the U.S. was long and a path that not many wrestlers have taken.
Argento was born and raised in Osimo, Italy – a town of about 35,000 people located on the east side of the country closer to the Adriatic Sea. He told Fox News Digital he started training in a ring at a boxing gym before he got started on the independent scene in Italy. He wrestled in Germany, Sweden, France and Denmark before he came to the realization that, to become a professional wrestler, he needed to make his way to the United States.
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Cristiano Argento performs in the National Wrestling Alliance (Instagram)
He first worked his way to Canada to get trained by pro wrestling legend Lance Storm. He moved to Canada, leaving most of his friends and family behind and without a firm grasp on the English language.
“At the time, my English was horrible. I didn’t speak any English at all,” he said. “But I was with my friend, Stefano, he came with me and he translated everything for me. I probably missed 50% of the knowledge that Lance Storm was giving to us because I was unable to understand. I was only given a recap and everything I was able to see. I’m sure if I was doing it now with a proper knowledge of English, it would have been a different scenario.
“Eventually, I moved back to Italy after the training and I said, OK, now, I want to go to the U.S. So, I studied English more properly, and eventually I got my first work visa that was in Texas. I was in Houston for a short period of time. I trained with Booker T at Reality of Wrestling. I got on his show, which was my debut in the U.S. That was awesome. I eventually got a new work visa in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I currently live since 2017. Since then, my wrestling career, thankfully, kept growing, growing, growing and growing until now wrestling for the NWA. One of the bigger promotions in the U.S.”
Argento said that his family thought he was “nuts” for chasing his pro wrestling dream.
He said they were more concerned about his well-being given that he was half-way around the world without anyone he knew by his side in case something went sideways.
“My family, friends, everybody was like why do you want to move to the opposite side of the world not knowing the language, not knowing anybody, by yourself, to try to become a professional wrestler? And I was like, well, we have one life, I love, and that’s what I’m gonna do,” he told Fox News Digital. “Eventually, my family was really supportive. But when I first said, ‘Hey, mom and dad, I want to do that.’ They looked at me like, ‘Are you nuts? Are you drunk or something? What are you talking about?’ And I said, no that’s what I want to do. And they knew I loved this sport because in Italy I was traveling around Europe, spending time in Canada training, so they started to understand slowly that’s what I want to do with my life. They were proud of me.
Cristiano Argento works out in the gym. (Instagram)
“They’re still proud of me. I think more like the fact that you’re gonna try that, that it’s hard than more like you’re gonna leave us. The fact like, oh, my son is gonna go on the opposite side of the world for a six-hour time difference and we’re gonna see him maybe, when, like, I don’t know. Not often. I think it was more that. And for me too, it was really hard. It was heartbreaking not being able to see my family every day or every month. Like once a year if I’m lucky. I think that was the biggest part for them because of concern or that I was here by myself and if I have any issue or any problem, I didn’t have nobody. So they were scared. Like, you get sick, if you have a problem, anything, and they’re not being able to be here next to me. But they were really supportive since day one.”
Argento is living out his dream in the U.S. He suggested that the moniker of the U.S. being the “land of opportunity” wasn’t far from what is preached in movies and literature – it was the real thing.
“I was inspired by people who came to the U.S. and made it big,” Argento told Fox News Digital. “The U.S. was always like the land of opportunity. That’s how they sell it to us and this is what it is. I feel like, in myself, that was true because anything I tried to do so far I was able to reach a lot more than if I wasn’t here. I’m not yet where I’d like to be but I see like there’s so many opportunities in this country. Not just in wrestling but like in any business to reach the goal. I’m really happy of the choices I did here.
National Wrestling Alliance star Cristiano Argento poses in Times Square in New York. (Instagram)
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“But my big inspirations were big-time actors who moved to the country, who didn’t know English, with no money, no support system. I had one dream, I have to go right there to make it happen and I’m gonna go and do it and I’m gonna make it happen. So those people were always the biggest inspiration even if it wasn’t in wrestling, just how they handled their passion, how they pursued their dream without being scared of anything, how far you are, how alone by yourself … You don’t know the language, you’re like, let’s go, let’s do it.”
Outside of the NWA, Argento has performed for the International Wrestling Cartel, Enjoy Wrestling and Exodus Pro Wrestling this year.
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