Steve Clifford Returning to Charlotte?

The Charlotte Hornets are heading into the 2022 NBA Draft without a head coach, thanks to Kenny Atkinson backing out of a deal he agreed to a couple of weeks back.

Many around the league believe that Mike D'Antoni is likely to be the coach who ultimately gets hired considering he's already been through the interview process and has had a sit-down with team owner Michael Jordan twice.

One other coach that is "mounting serious buzz" is former Hornets head coach Steve Clifford, according to a report from NBA insider Marc Stein. It's unclear whether or not this would be for the head coaching position or just a spot on staff as a defensive assistant. The latter makes the most sense given that the Hornets want to continue the offensive growth of LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges (assuming he returns).

In Steve Clifford's 5 years stint as head coach Charlotte had on average the 12th ranked defense in the NBA with Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker leading the team in minutes.

Cliff can flat out coach defense.

Defensive transition + low fouls + protect the paint
— James Plowright (@British_Buzz) June 23, 2022

In his five seasons with the Hornets, Clifford compiled a 196-214 record with two postseason appearances. In 2015-16, he helped lead the team to its fifth-best record in franchise history going 48-34. Unfortunately, he followed that up with back-to-back 36-win seasons, leading to his dismissal.

After being fired by Charlotte, Clifford was hired to be the head coach of the Orlando Magic. He went 42-40 in his first year on the job, but was unable to continue that progress winning just 33 and 21 games the next two seasons.

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