Steve Clifford to step down as Charlotte Hornets coach at end of season

Charlotte Hornets head coachSteve Clifford is expected to step down from his head coachingposition to take a front-office role with the franchise, reportsAdrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Clifford, 62, has led theHornets to a 45-112 overall record in two seasons, which have beenriddled with injuries to young players LaMelo Ball and MarkWilliams.

According to sources, newCharlotte owners Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin were open tobringing him back as coach next season, but Clifford thought hewasn't prepared to commit to the year-round grind of head coachingfor the 2024-2025 season. He will coach them for their final 7games.

Clifford informed his playersand staff on Wednesday of the decision, which will allow theHornets to immediately start searching for a new head coach fornext season.

Among the league’s assistantcoaching candidates expected to be considered in the Charlotteprocess are Jordi Fernandez (SAC), Charles Lee (BOS), Chris Quinn(MIA), and Kevin Young (PHX).

Coaching the Hornets next seasonwill be appealing following the emergence of 2023 no.2 overall pickBrandon Miller with the impending return of Ball and Williams. Allthree players would be paired with the new players acquired fromthis year’s trade deadline as well as the projected lottery pick innext season’s draft as the organization pivots to a new era ofwinning basketball under their new ownership.