LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers’ coaching search has been very public, seemingly chaotic and dominated by famous names.

Totally Hollywood, in other words.

According to reports, the Lakers’ plan to offer a massive contract to UConn Coach Dan Hurley is the latest twist in the monthlong race to replace Darvin Ham, who was fired May 3 after two seasons.

The Lakers were knocked out of the first round of the current playoffs, but the 17-time NBA champion franchise has nicely filled the void of hoops drama during the week before the NBA Finals with steady leaks about the progress of their quest for a coach who can win a title – and almost as vitally, a coach who can entice LeBron James to finish his career in purple and gold.

According to a person with knowledge of the lengthy search, the Lakers have strongly considered J.J. Redick, the former player and current ESPN analyst who does a podcast with James; Hurley, the back-to-back national championship-winning coach of the Huskies; and James Borrego, the respected former Charlotte Hornets coach and ex-Gregg Popovich assistant who spent last season on New Orleans’ staff.

On Wednesday, The Athletic reported that Redick shockingly was the frontrunner despite his total lack of coaching experience. On Thursday, the search took another wild turn when ESPN reported the Lakers were instead targeting Hurley, whose candidacy hadn’t even been mentioned in numerous discussions of the job.

The crazy twists are representative of the various factions within the Lakers’ brain trust of owner Jeanie Buss and General Manager Rob Pelinka dispensing narratives to their favored media outlets. The Lakers previously seemed unlikely to make an official hire before the end of the NBA Finals, but the person who spoke to the AP said even that could change, depending on their progress.

BETTING PROBE: Two more men were charged Thursday in the sports betting scandal that prompted the NBA to ban former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter for life.

Timothy McCormack and Mahmud Mollah now join two other men – Long Phi Pham and a fourth whose name remains redacted in a court complaint – as defendants in a federal wire fraud case about wagers allegedly based on tips from a player about his plans to exit two games early.

Prosecutors haven’t publicly named Porter in connection with the case, but game dates and other details about the “Player 1” mentioned in the court documents match up with Porter and his April banishment from the NBA. Brooklyn federal prosecutors have declined to comment on whether the former forward is under investigation.

An NBA investigation found in April that he tipped off bettors about his health and then claimed illness to exit at least one game and make some wagers succeed.