Celtics legend concerned if Dan Hurley can transition into pros as Lakers HC: “It’s hard for college coaches to transition to the pros.”

The LA Lakers are reportedly set to hire Dan Hurley as their new coach following the dismissal of Darvin Ham earlier this postseason. Although there had been widespread indications that the team would be hiring JJ Redick, it now appears as though that won't be the case. The way Celtics legend Paul Pierce sees things, however, Hurley may struggle with the transition to the NBA.

As he explained on a recent episode of Fox Sports 1's Undisputed alongside Skip Bayless, college coaches don't always have the best success when it comes to making the transition to coaching in the NBA.

Using his own experience as a young player who came into the league with a college coach in Rick Pitino, he recalled how veteran players believed the coach was out of his element. In addition, he explained that with players leading the dance in the NBA, college coaches quickly tire of not being top dog.

Given that, the Celtics legend feels as though the Lakers would be better off hiring JJ Redick rather than Dan Hurley.

"It's hard for college coaches to just make the transition to the pros. Cause now it's like, how do I respect you as a college coach? You know, maybe it'd be good for a young team coming in, a team that's gonna probably listen to you, rookies, 2nd, 3rd year players.

"But now you got LeBron, who's a strong personality, who's a strong, strong light in the room. AD. If things don't go right from the jump they can tune you out right away."

"They started to tune him out a bit" - Paul Pierce reflects on 1998-99 Celtics team amid Lakers' potential Dan Hurley hiring

As Paul Pierce went on to explain, when he was a rookie with the Boston Celtics during the 1998-99 season, the team began to tune out coach Rick Patino. Despite the famed coach's impressive list of accolades in college, the veteran players on the Celtics didn't like running college sets.

Given that, the team started to tune out their head coach, leading to a 19-31 record over the shortened season. that saw the team miss the playoffs.

"They started to tune him out a bit. We were running press. We were running college sets. They pressed, you know, we pressed. We got our big men at the front.

"And so I started hearing the veterans kind of tune them out because the yelling, and from what I've seen from coach Dan Hurley, he's very demonstrative, and his coaching, that's not gonna work in the NBA."

As Pierce went on to explain, Dan Hurley and LeBron James will likely have conversations about his coaching style to ensure both are on the same page. Given that Dan Hurley has a vocal style of coaching, NBA standouts likely won't accept Hurley treating them like college players according to the Celtics legend.

While the move hasn't yet been made official, it will be interesting to see how things play out amid reports that the Lakers are preparing a massive offer for Hurley.