Hornets name Steve Clifford head coach

According to Rory Maher of hoopsrumors.com, the Charlotte Hornets have named Steve Clifford of Island Falls, Maine as their new head coach. Clifford is actually returning to the Hornets as he was Charlotte’s head coach from 2013 to 2018, and then with the Orlando Magic from 2018 to 2021.

In 637 regular season games, Clifford had a record of 292 wins and 354 losses for a winning percentage of .458. He also has coached 21 postseason games and had a record of five wins and 16 losses. Three of his postseason wins were with the Hornets (2015-16), and the other two were with the Magic (2018-19 and 2019-20).

Clifford’s best season as a coach came with the Hornets in 2015-16. That year he had a career-high 48 wins, and a career best winning percentage of .585. Clifford takes over from James Borrego. 

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While Clifford coached Charlotte initially, the franchise was known as the Charlotte Bobcats during Clifford’s first season in 2013-14. The team them changed their name back to the Hornets in 2014. The Hornets were the original name of the NBA’s Charlotte franchise in 1988, and then were relocated to New Orleans in 2002. The Bobcats first joined the NBA in 2004 as an expansion franchise.

It should be noted that Clifford was not the Hornets’ first choice this time around. Their first choice was Kenny Atkinson of Northport, New York. In fact the Hornets had come to terms on a deal with Atkinson, but then Atkinson changed his mind and decided to remain an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors. Atkinson made up his mind to stay with the NBA champs the day after Golden State won the NBA Finals. 

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