The Charlotte Hornets and their coach have a lot of growing up to do

The Charlotte Hornets are a young team in pretty much every meaningful way. This roster hasn't played a ton together, and it's a young roster overall. They're the seventh-youngest team in the NBA, and that includes Mason Plumlee dragging the average up.

Their head coach, Charles Lee, is in his second season, and he's the sixth-youngest head coach in basketball. There's not exactly a wealth of experience on the sideline or on the court for the Hornets.

That has proven to be costly on more than one occasion. In fact, one could argue that the last two games illustrate how much growing up this young team still has to do.

Take last night, for example. They fought hard with a pretty bad team. They should've easily won, but it's the NBA. Things happen. They still got down and had a chance to take the lead on a final shot.

Moussa Diabate rushed the inbounds pass and turned it over. Then, on the next possession, Charles Lee drew up a play for, wait for it, Collin Sexton.

The ball went to LaMelo Ball, but the play design was for Sexton to come around and down the key and get the pass. He did, stepped back, and completely missed the game-tying attempt.

The play design is fine, but Lee has to learn that it's more about the player than the play. That play call is solid, but it should not go to Sexton. Ball or Kon Knueppel should have the ball in their hands for the final shot.

The night before, Lee seemed to call for Ball to start their final offensive play, perhaps a little too soon. Ball scored with 1.6 seconds left. That left time for the Toronto Raptors to score.

Of course, it's fair to say that the Hornets wanted to leave a bit of time in case Ball lost the basketball or had to pass out. Plus, there could've been a putback attempt. That's not the worst part.

The worst part was not realizing who was going to shoot for Toronto. It was always going to be Immanuel Quickley, but the Hornets couldn't switch and get a defender on him in time, nor did they seemingly have all the best defenders on the court (Josh Green sat) there.

Jan 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee directs his team against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

Going further beyond those two games, there are plenty of contests that inexperience has cost them. By my count, there are about six games this team should've won and probably would've if they were a little more experienced.

Brandon Miller's final shot, whether it was the specific play call or not, against the Milwaukee Bucks was not great. Losing to the Chicago Bulls in overtime could've been avoided. There are several examples.

This team would be firmly in the Play-In conversation with those wins. Maybe it's fine that they're not because this year's not the year, but they're definitely in need of some growth.

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