Revisiting the Hornets' decision to fire James Borrego three years ago

The decision to fire James Borrego after the 2021-22 season looms as a key point in the history of the Charlotte Hornets. Borrego had pretty much improved every season save for one, and he was coming off a 43-win season in which the Hornets made the play-in game. For reference, 43 wins this year would be the fourth seed in the East.

Since then, things have gone catastrophically wrong for Charlotte. They've averaged 22 wins per season without Borrego. Was the decision to fire him the wrong one? Maybe. Borrego had his Hornets teams consistently playing pretty well, at least compared to how they are now.

They weren't good, but they weren't a perennial basement dweller, and they seemed to be taking strides forward. The decision to move on from someone who might have peaked at a 43-win play-in season wasn't necessarily the worst decision in the world. It backfired, but the logic wasn't totally faulty.

It's especially sound logic when you consider that they had Kenny Atkinson coming in to replace him. That's the same Kenny Atkinson who's likely to win Coach of the Year this season. He took the Cleveland Cavaliers from a solid 48-34 to 58-14 and counting with largely the same roster.

Atkinson had agreed to take over for Borrego, and one can imagine what a coach of his caliber could've done with the Hornets. He backed out of the agreement, though, and returned to the Golden State Warriors as an assistant.

Apr 10, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach James Borrego during pregame warm ups against the Washington Wizards at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

That left the Hornets totally scrambling, and they made one of the worst choices they've made in a long time, though they really had no choice. They hired Steve Clifford for a second stint, and it was bad. Clifford wasn't a terrible coach, but he couldn't do anything with this team, and those two years were essentially wasted because of Atkinson's decision to pull out.

Now, Clifford has been replaced by Charles Lee. It's difficult to tell what kind of coach he is after part of one season. On one hand, he's 18-54, and that's awful no matter how you slice it. The Hornets were swept by the worst team in the NBA this year and have one divisional win all year long.

On the other hand, the Hornets have often looked way more competitive than they have the right to. They've been blasted by injuries at an impressive and sad rate, and Lee routinely has them playing better than they should. Still, 18 wins is 18 wins. The jury remains out, but it's easy to trace some of this team's struggles back to the decision to move on from Borrego. In hindsight, that proved to be a mistake.

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