Mike D’Antoni is reportedly “in strong position” to take over the Charlotte Hornets. Marc Stein says in his latest newsletter (h/t to NBC Sports) D’Antoni is among the frontrunners for the Hornets coaching gig.
D’Antoni was to meet with the Hornets earlier this month, per ESPN. While, he’s not known for his ability in coaching good defenses, D’Antoni has a long history with elevating the game of his playmakers, especially in the scoring department.
With the Rockets, he built a successful James Harden-centric offense and he did the same with Steve Nash in the “seven seconds or less” Phoenix Suns earlier in his career. His fit with the Hornets’ young superstar guard LaMelo Ball seems to be an interesting one.
The Hornets were already a Top-10 team in offensive production last season under James Borrego. Charlotte made the play-in tournament two consecutive seasons, but, they could not land their first postseason appearance since 2016.
The team was seriously out-played in two win or go home games the last two years. Probably, Charlotte will look to hire a competent coaching staff around D’Antoni to cover for the team’s defense.
D’Antoni is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year and owns a 672-527 (.560) record in nearly 1,200 games over two decades with Denver, Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles and Houston. He spent last season being part of the New Orleans coaching staff as a consultant.
No NBA games tonight but lots and lots of around-the-league notes (Hornets, Jazz, Nets, Kings, Spurs, Lakers and more) can be found here in my latest This Week In Basketball column that just went live as Tuesday's Draft Lottery looms: https://t.co/Zke39HnF3C — Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 14, 2022
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