Callihan: Steve Clifford Was Dealt a Tough Hand

The Charlotte Hornets may make a coaching change in the future, but the man didn't get much of a chance.

Nearly two years ago, Charlotte Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak felt like the organization had peeked under head coach James Borrego after failing to make it past the play-in tournament in consecutive years and decided to make a coaching change.

Borrego became the first coach in NBA history to be fired after a 10-win or more improvement in back-to-back seasons, but the atrocious showing in each of the play-in games ultimately cost him his job. 

After the whole Kenny Atkinson debacle, the Hornets had to go back through a second search in the same offseason, finally landing on Steve Clifford on a short-term deal. This was viewed by many as Clifford doing the Hornets a favor after being spurned by Atkinson but also a favor by the Hornets giving Clifford one more opportunity to be a head coach in the NBA.

Unfortunately, this second marriage between Clifford and the Hornets hasn't gone as either had hoped. As of today, Clifford's record since his return to Charlotte is 35-79 (.307). In some cases, the record doesn't tell you everything. If you're one that doesn't follow the Hornets closely and just look at that very record, you're probably thinking, yeah there needs to be a coaching change. But if you do understand the situation, it's a tough spot for Clifford to be in because he's never had much of a fair shake in this second stint.

Injuries absolutely destroyed the Hornets' season a year ago and this season is shaping up to be a repeat of what played out in 2022-23. Frank Ntilikina has yet to play, Gordon Hayward has been in and out of the lineup, Terry Rozier missed a stretch of games, Cody Martin just returned after missing nearly a year, Mark Williams has missed the last twelve games, LaMelo Ball re-injured his ankle and has been out since late November, and P.J. Washington just injured his ankle in last night's loss to Chicago.

There have been several games where the Hornets have played without three and sometimes even four starters. If you take that many key players off any NBA roster, there will be signs of struggles. You could probably count on two hands how many games Clifford has had the full boat available in one and a half years. No coach with a young roster like the one Charlotte has its going to be successful in that situation.

The unfortunate piece of this for Clifford is that he's technically operating on the last year of his deal. There is a club option for him to return in 2024-25, but with new ownership in place, one could assume they'd like to start fresh, possibly from top to bottom.

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