The NBA Finals tip-off Thursday night, but the defining match-up of the season wasn’t even the biggest NBA news to start the day.
Because ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a classic “Woj Bomb” on the NBA world by reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers are set to offer a contract to University of Connecticut Men’s Basketball coach Dan Hurley.
Hurley, who led UConn to back-to-back NCAA National Championships, has been at the front of the Lakers searching report “from the beginning,” according to Wojnarowski’s report.
The news has sent shockwaves throughout the basketball world, both professional and collegiate, in part because it came a day after The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Lakers were “zeroing in” on ESPN’s JJ Redick as its next head coach.
On Wednesday, Charania was even a guest on “The Pat McAfee Show,” airing on ESPN, to report that Redick has “emerged as the front-runner” for the Lakers’ head coaching role.
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Considering Redick has been reported by Charania — considered one of the top newsbreakers in the league alongside Wojnarowski — as a finalist for the role, many, including us at TheStreet, were led to believe that the Redick was headed away from the commentary booth and on to the sidelines with the Lakers.
There was additional speculation when Redick was asked about the report by Mike Golic Jr. on the “Gojo and Golic” on Wednesday. Redick said that he was focused on calling the NBA Finals — the first time the 39-year-old is calling the series — but he did make a statement about the coaching news.
“My focus is on the NBA Finals, I will say that,” Redick said. “In terms of Shams, that will be addressed once the season is over, so I’ll just say that.”
“My focus is on the NBA Finals. In terms of Shams, that will be addressed once the season is over. I’ll just say that.” @jj_redick addresses the elephant in the room — the rumors of the Lakers’ interest in him as their new Head Coach pic.twitter.com/6OwYnG5iHQ
— GoJo and Golic (@GoJoandGolic) June 5, 2024
Related: Stephen A. Smith comes to the defense of NBA reporters Woj and Shams
The two hosts joked a little with Redick about breaking whatever news he head on their show in the future, which led Redick to clarify that his statement wasn’t about Shams’ report but instead about Shams himself.
“Hold on, I don’t mean any job. I mean, Shams. After the season. We’ll wait on that one,” Redick said.
Woj’s report on where the Lakers coaching search is headed now puts a spotlight on the accuracy of Charania’s report about Redick yesterday. Charania released his own report on The Athletic following Woj’s report that did not have the same certainty and fervor of Wojnarowski’s report.
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The headline of Charania’s article said that the Lakers and Hurley were “in contact” about the job and the meat of the story included that the Lakers’s search “has centered on JJ Redick,” contradictory to the report of Wojnarowski.
This saga is another chapter in what has been a growing rivalry between Wojnarowski, a veteran NBA newsbreaker, and Charania, the budding NBA media star who just entered his 30s in April.
Whichever of the two’s reporting is accurate will likely be answered by the time the Lakers do decide to hire a coach — or if someone from the Lakers front office decides to publicly address the reports down the line.
Or when Redick decides to reveal what really happened after the season is over.
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