[Wojnarowski] ESPN Sources: Steve Clifford is stepping down as the Charlotte Hornets’ coach at the end of the season and working to finalize a front office role with the franchise. Clifford informed his assistants and players on Wednesday morning.
by CompetitiveLine1938
32 Comments
Hornets just can’t quit Steve Clifford for once and for all, no matter how bad he is, lol.
This is huge for us, I’m glad it’s an amicable split. Both parties know it’s not the future for him to be leading the team.
Gives us time to look at the coaching market early and hopefully get the right man for the job, here’s hoping they make the right call
FINALLY THE NIGHTMARE IS ALMOST OVER
much needed. rest well cliff, ish smith wont haunt you anymore
i feel nothing.
thrilled he’s no longer going to be the coach, i hope he doesn’t have a say in anything in his “front office role”, that’s how you get an army of MCWs
We basically giving this basketball hound a paid chew toy and tbh that’s okay
From ESPN:
> Charlotte’s new executive vice president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson and co-owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin were open to bringing him back as coach next season, but Clifford, 62, decided he wasn’t prepared to commit to the year-round grind of head coaching for the 2024-2025 season, sources said.
>Clifford didn’t want to hinder the franchise’s ability to compete for the top young coaches available in the marketplace, and allows the Hornets to begin an immediate search for his successor, sources said.
[Sources: Among the league’s assistant coaching candidates expected to be considered in the Charlotte process: Sacramento’s Jordi Fernandez, Boston’s Charles Lee, Miami’s Chris Quinn, Phoenix’s Kevin Young, and others.](https://x.com/wojespn/status/1775536098627702906?s=46&t=RD360NXGU7xzwFvfOXSNRQ)
The hunt for Mike D’Antoni begins!!! 7 seconds or less invading buzz city soon. We swarm in 24/25
This man keeps failing upwards somehow and it’s insane
I bet our next coach will be Charles Lee, he has ties to both Peterson and ownership from his time as an assistant on the Hawks. He’s currently the Celtics top assistant and before that was an assistant on the championship Bucks and 60 win Hawks
I love it.
Contrary to what most believe on this sub while I think it is time to move on. The idea that literally any coach could have done anything other marginally better under the circumstances of the last 2 years is ridiculous.
We have seen tremendous individual skill development from a lot of our young guys under Cliff and the man still clearly has an eye for talent as he was willing to go against the mob of groupthink when it came to evaluating Scoot vs Miller.
A front office role is perfect for him.
https://preview.redd.it/humaxm6g3asc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9c78c1a6fd26fad48c786c4df2ea45453286331e
Seems pretty likely that he was told the team was moving on after the season, but since he’s liked in the organization, they did it this way to save him some face and allow the team to start the search for the new coach ASAP. Looks like we might have adults running things now. I doubt the “front office role” will amount to much.
I don’t think this year was Clifford’s fault (especially given the injuries), but unless you have a top 10 coach who you think is the long-term answer, it’s probably better off to cycle through another coach every 2-3 years. The bottom 20 or so coaches in the league seem pretty fungible.
Adios cliff I enjoyed the candid interviews
..not april fools this time right?
As a non-Hornets fan, I’m very happy for you guys.
rest easy, sweet prince
Apparently there will be a press conference at 4p ET today.
Also; Fuck Kenny Atkinson
James Borrego COME. ON. DOWN.
THANK FUCKING GOD
happy to keep him as an advisor, he’s very smart
Can we just keep him far away from our franchise for a while?
He just got secret info on somebody in the franchise cause we stay giving him roles he ain’t deserve
As a Bills fan…thanks for trying to cheer me up Hornets….
He’s going to be the sounding board for peterson in the front office. If you listen to Peterson talk about Clifford it’s been all praise. Clifford had a big impact on him in Brooklyn.
Thank God…
Even though he’s an awful coach, I can at least respect him for stepping down voluntarily