According to sources, Lindsey Harding will interview with the Charlotte Hornets for the head coaching position.
Regarding the head coaching position, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets would interview Stockton Kings coach Lindsey Harding.
The sources Wojnarowski cited stated that the Hornets were granted authorization on Monday to interview the 2023–24 G League Coach of the Year for the head coaching post. An insider in the league also notified The Athletic of the news.
As the first-ever female head coach appointed in the NBA, Harding would create history should she take the job. A new head coach would be sought immediately, the Hornets announced last week. After the current campaign concludes, head coach Steve Clifford will retire and join the front office as an adviser in 2019.
Additionally, the Denver Nuggets, Jordi Fernandez, Kevin Young, David Adelman, and the Boston Celtics have granted the Hornets permission to talk with their assistants.
A statement on their potential coaching chances was withheld by the Hornets from CNN. CNN has made inquiries for comments from Harding and the Stockton Kings. Though Harding hasn’t been the first to be interviewed, she would be the first female NBA head coach if hired by Charlotte.
Following interviews for multiple NBA head coaching positions, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon moved on to the WNBA, where she has enjoyed great success and won back-to-back championships in 2022 and 2023. Additionally, Hammon was hired as the first full-time female assistant coach in NBA history when she joined the San Antonio Spurs under Gregg Popovich.
Speaking with her team, Harding (middle) watches the Kings play the Ontario Clippers. The official minor level of the NBA, the G level, is home to the Sacramento Kings’ affiliate team, which Harding coaches. Having finished her first season in the role, she guided the team to the top seed in the Western Conference; nevertheless, they were beaten by the Oklahoma City Blue in the conference finals.
Following a league-best 24-10 regular season record for Stockton, she became the first woman to win G League Coach of the Year. It was the first time in G League history that two women oversaw a G League affiliate when Anjali Ranadivé was appointed general manager of the organization in June of last year. She was also named head coach at Stockton.
Before taking on her current position, Harding served as an assistant coach and player development coach for the Stockton parent club for four seasons. Her experience as a coach extends internationally; she previously coached the women’s national team of South Sudan before taking on the role of coach for Mexico. For the Philadelphia 76ers, she has also served as a scout and player development coach.
Prior to going into coaching, Harding had a successful playing career. After an incredible career at Duke, where she retired her No. 10 jersey and won the 2007 Naismith College Player of the Year award, she was chosen with the first overall pick in the WNBA draft.
She participated in 270 WNBA games throughout the course of her nine-year career while playing in Turkey, Lithuania, and Russia. She participated in the 2016 Olympics as a member of the Belarusian women’s national squad.