Shams Charania is firing back at his former mentor as the reporting over the Lakers’ search for a head coach intensifies.
Charania, The Athletic’s NBA insider, said Tuesday morning that Dan Hurley “was not the No. 1 candidate” for the Lakers job despite ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski — Charania’s former mentor — reporting otherwise through the weekend.
On Monday, Hurley turned down a six-year, $70 million offer and decided to stay at UConn and chase a third straight NCAA title, leaving Pelicans associate head coach James Borrego and former player and current ESPN analyst J.J. Redick as the potential frontrunners for Los Angeles.
“[Hurley] was not the No. 1 candidate, the No. 1 guy to go pursue from the start, from the beginning. But they felt like there was an opening there,” Charania said on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” on Tuesday. “At the end of the day, Dan Hurley chose not to leave. He chose to stay for $20 million less at UConn… it does beg the question around the league, was there genuine interest? Was this a genuine process with this? Or was this just about leverage?”
Charania had reported that the Lakers were “zeroing in” on Redick, only for Wojnarowski to report that Hurley was a favorite two days later.
In an appearance on Tuesday’s “Pat McAfee Show” — on the airwaves of Wojnarowski’s employer — the titular host made note of the growing proxy war between the insiders.
“If the Lakers want to go hire James Borrego, they’ve had a month to hire James Borrego,” Charania said on the McAfee’s show. “They’ve had this week, after losing out on Dan Hurley –– I guess –– they’ve had this time to go get James Borrego.”
“‘I guess’? What was that?” McAfee said, latching on to the not-so-subtle jab Charania sent Wojnarowski’s way.
It’s the latest in the on-going battle between the NBA insiders, who battle one another for scoops and info.
As The Ringer’s Bill Simmons — a former ESPN star himself — pointed out, there is a consequence awaiting one of the two warring factions.
“You can’t sleep on the Woj-Shams thing either,” he said on Monday’s episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” after Hurley opted to return to Connecticut. “Shams reports that J.J.’s getting the job. And then Woj comes back with the ‘Wait a second,’ which I think is a piece too. ‘Is he getting the job? What about Hurley?’ And then boom. So one of those two guys is going to be wrong.”
The last day that Redick could be broadcasting a game is June 24, a potential Game 7 between the Celtics and Mavericks in the NBA Finals, though he did have a message for Charania, who has continued to tie him to the Lakers in recent weeks.
“I would says this: My focus right now is on calling the NBA Finals,” he said on DraftKings’ “GoJo and Golic” show last week. “I am so fortunate that I’m in this position and I get to call these finals with Doris and Mike … my day-to-day right now is consumed with calling games, the 19 different podcasts I feel like I have, my obligations to all of our partners. 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,” he added, “I don’t mean any job — I mean Shams. We’ll wait on that one.”
