Steve Clifford was dealt a harsh hand, according to Callihan.
After improving by 10 wins or more in consecutive seasons, Borrego became the first coach in NBA history to be dismissed. However, his disastrous performance in each of the play-in games ultimately proved to be the undoing of his career.
Following the entire Kenny Atkinson fiasco, the Hornets were forced to conduct a second search during the same summer, ultimately settling on Steve Clifford for a temporary contract. Many saw this as Clifford repaying the Hornets for passing on him after Atkinson rejected him, as well as the Hornets giving Clifford another chance to lead an NBA team.
Sadly, neither Clifford nor the Hornets had anticipated how their second marriage would turn out. Clifford is currently 35-79 (.307) as of today, upon his return to Charlotte. Sometimes you can’t learn everything from the record.
If you’re not a die-hard Hornets fan and you simply look at that record, you’re probably thinking that a coaching change is necessary. Clifford is in a difficult place because, if you understand the circumstances, he hasn’t received much of a fair deal during this second stint.
The Hornets’ season last year was completely wrecked by injuries, and it appears like 2022–2023 will be a repetition of that year. Gordon Hayward has been in and out of the lineup, Terry Rozier missed a run of games, Cody Martin recently returned after missing almost a year, Mark Williams has missed the last twelve games, LaMelo Ball re-injured his ankle and has not played since late November, and P.J. Washington recently suffered an ankle injury in last night’s loss to Chicago. Frank Ntilikina has yet to play.
The Hornets have started multiple games without any of their three or even four starters. Any NBA team will show symptoms of struggle if so many of its key players are removed. The number of games Clifford has had the entire boat accessible in the past 1.5 years is probably enough to count on two hands. No coach will be successful in that circumstance if their team is as young as Charlotte’s.
For Clifford, the terrible part of this is that he’s technically in the final year of his contract. Although the club has an option for him to return in 2024–2025, it is likely that they would prefer to start over entirely now that new ownership has taken over.