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.
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
BROWNS EXECS RAISE EYEBROWS WITH REACTIONS AFTER DRAFTING SHEDEUR SANDERS FOLLOWING HISTORIC SLIDE
And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
GREG OLSEN’S ADVICE FOR NFL DRAFT FIRST-ROUND PICKS ON HANDLING HIGH EXPECTATIONS
ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
BROWNS MAKE STUNNING KENNY PICKETT TRADE TO RAIDERS AS BACKUP QUARTERBACK ROLE REMAINS WIDE OPEN
They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
PRO WRESTLING STARS CHRIS SABIN, ALEX SHELLEY TALK POSSIBILITY OF WWE USING TNA’S GIMMICK MATCHES
Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
-
Michigan3 minutes agoHockey roundup: Michigan coach Brandon Naurato named to U.S. national team
-
Massachusetts9 minutes agoThe Arc of Massachusetts recognizes Vanna Howard as 2026 Legislator of the Year
-
Minnesota15 minutes agoNuggets-Timberwolves takeaways: Jaden McDaniels backs up his talk, as Minnesota dominates Game 3 with defense
-
Mississippi21 minutes agoFederal relief available for Mississippi farmers impacted by ongoing drought
-
Missouri27 minutes ago
Missouri Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 winning numbers for April 23, 2026
-
Montana33 minutes agoMontana Student Loan Assistance Program Preserves Family Farms and Ranches
-
Nebraska39 minutes agoSergeant Mad Bear Recreation Area opens in Gretna
-
Nevada45 minutes agoHistoric Nevada elementary school to close this summer