Hornets Coach Steve Clifford Takes Indefinite Medical Leave

Stephen Silas will fill in while Steve Clifford is away from the Hornets.

Hornets head coach Steve Clifford is taking a leave of absence “to address his health,” the team announced Wednesday. 

There is no timetable for Clifford’s return and longtime assistant Stephen Silas will be the interim head coach. Clifford missed Monday’s win over the Magic with an unspecified illness and Silas filled in. 

Clifford, 56, was hired as head coach of the then-Bobcats in 2013 and led Charlotte to a playoff appearance in his first year. The team is 9–13 this season and in 11th place in the Eastern Conference.

Silas joined the Hornets as a scout in 1999 when his father, Paul, was head coach. He held several assistant jobs around the league before returning to Charlotte in 2010. Silas and Mike D’Antoni were reportedly the finalists for the Rockets job when it opened in 2016.