"Jeanie Buss destroyed the Lakers"- Purple and Gold fans berate ownership after Dan Hurley cites financial reason for rejecting HC job

Although the Lakers offered Dan Hurley a reported $70 million to take over as head coach of the franchise, it simply wasn't enough for him to leave UConn. The move has now put LA back into the interviewing stage of their head coaching search with less than two weeks to go until draft night. Despite candidates like Kenny Atkinson and JJ Redick being on the table, fans aren't happy.

Leading reports indicate that Pelicans assistant James Borrego is a frontrunner to land the coaching gig, however, Borrego is also allegedly a candidate to replace JB Bickerstaff in Cleveland. With the situation shrouded in uncertainty, fans are turning their attention to the front office.

During the Dan LeBatard Show on Thursday, the longtime sports personality had Dan Hurley on to discuss the situation. While Hurley didn't get into specifics, he did explain that there was a number LA could have offered him that would have been too hard to pass up.

LA fans didn't seem to be happy about the situation, with many taking it out on Jeanie Buss and the Lakers' ownership.

Other fans agreed that Jeanie Buss was to blame:

"Once again the lakers being cheap costs them Lmaoo" - @Sharmake_b (Twitter/X)

"Ngl I legit despise that woman" - @ToxicLakers (Twitter/X)

"Jeanie could have offered more, but U cant say Lakers offer presented to Dan Hurley was not a great offer. He would have been Top 5 most paid coach in the NBA with no NBA exp. He created an opportunity for himself, but he instead denied it and decided to stay in his comfort zone." - @Dj_Hectik_ (Twitter/X)

Other members of the NBA community questioned the deal as well while blaming Jeanie Buss:

"6/70 M is actually such a horrible offer' - @McBronald (Twitter/X)

"@JeanieBuss sell da team before LeBron leaves and you fade into the irrelevancy like before" - @Bandmanshadiel (Twitter/X)

Others pointed out that Dan Hurley saying there is probably a number the team could have paid him doesn't reflect poorly on the Lakers' ownership given that the unspecified number could have been an unrealistic amount.

"He says there “PROBABLY” is a number. Maybe its something completely bonkers. And then he’s still unhappy because his heart isn’t in it." - BruddogTecmo (Twitter/X)

"Of course there’s a number. There’s a number for EVERYONE to do ANYTHING! It still has to make sense because he’s not a proven NBA coach. You can’t start him out earning the same money as Pop, Kerr, Spoelstea who have all won multiple championships." - @DusBing (Twitter/X)

"Saying and doing are to different things! I don’t buy that he had a number! He could have countered or communicated what his number was btw." - @MannyLemus81 (Twitter/X)

As one fan pointed out, there seems to be one key element that swayed Dan Hurley, his family:

"Did you watch the whole video? He said way more than just that …. He also said it’s a number he just doesn’t know what it is. He wasn’t leaving. Sounds like his family played a big factor in that decision" - @3kConner (Twitter/X)

Looking at the comments made by Dan Hurley on the Dan LeBatard show that sparked reactions from fans

Dan Hurley's appearance on the Dan LeBatard Show saw the UConn coach address a number of different topics. In addition to the financial side of his decision to stay at UConn, Hurley also notably shot down speculation that he used the offer as a negotiating tactic.

While Hurley wound up becoming the highest-paid college coach, he explained that he wasn't out to pit the two sides against one another. At the time Jeanie Buss and the LA front office offered him $70 million to coach the team for the next six years, his new deal with UConn had already been finalized.

In addition, much like some fans pointed out, the connection he and his family have to UConn is simply an x-factor that the Lakers can't compensate for.

"The family connection with my wife, my sons, my mother in law, my brother, my father. I know how much it means to my dad to go to the Big East tournament and to come to ten UConn games a year at home and sit courtside when I'm coaching against Rick Pitino.

"I mean, to leave all that behind. There probably is a number I don't know what that is."

With Dan Hurley turning down the job, the team will now resume their coaching search. As Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported, the team is hoping to lock down a coach before the first round of the draft on Jun. 26.