Geno Auriemma May Be Responsible For Putting The Idea Of Coaching The Lakers On Dan Hurley's Mind

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The report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Thursday explaining the Los Angeles Lakers' plans to offer a "massive" contract to UConn's Dan Hurley to become the franchise's next head coach seemingly came out of nowhere. The most interesting wrinkle in the situation may involve another employer of UConn: Geno Auriemma.

Auriemma, who has been the women's head basketball coach at UConn since 1985, joined ‘The Dan Patrick Show’ on Thursday shortly after the report linking Hurley to the Lakers took over the internet. 

Like everyone else, Auriemma was surprised by the news, but it turns out that he could be the man responsible for putting the Lakers' coaching job on Hurley's mind. 

"This is really funny because I happened to be at a thing with him last night. I have no idea what's going on, and have no idea where this is going or what's happening, but I said 'hey, I think you could win a lot of championships with the Lakers more so than a guy who has never coached," Auriemma told Patrick, referring to JJ Redick who has been in the coaching rumor mill.

"He just looked at me and nodded, we had a good laugh, and this morning I wake up, and voila."

Not that Hurley needed it, but Auriemma essentially gave Hurley his blessing to leave UConn and pursue the Lakers job less than 24 hours after the report came out linking him to the job.

Voila indeed.

You have to respect Auriemma's honesty here telling the world, while sitting in his office at UConn, that he suggested that the men's head coach at the university may want to think about leaving to go coach LeBron James and the Lakers.

On the other hand, it's safe to assume that David Benedict, UConn's athletic director, isn't exactly pleased with Auriemma's comments.

Hurley is without question the most sought-after coach in basketball at the moment with the Huskies winning back-to-back national championships. Whether or not he leaves the college ranks to test the NBA waters in LA remains to be seen, but Auriemma certainly won't be discouraged if he does.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.