Amidst all the talk of who the Los Angeles Lakers should hire as their next head coach, some may have forgotten that the Charlotte Hornets are also looking for a new bench leader.
In fact, they have reportedly interviewed some of the same candidates as the Lakers, such as current Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson.
But the favorite to land the job is a man who coached the Lakers several years back.
Via Lakers Daily:
“Former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni is the leader for the Charlotte Hornets coaching vacancy, according to a report.
“‘According to three league sources, the leader for the Hornets’ coaching job is Mike D’Antoni,’ wrote Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com.
“It sounds like the Hornets like the idea of paring D’Antoni with young star LaMelo Ball.
“‘I don’t think it’s a done deal or anything, but I know they like the idea of what he can do with LaMelo and their running game,’ a source close to the matter told Bulpett. ‘If D’Antoni can get those guys on his wavelength, that’s going to be an even more fun team to watch.'”
After leaving L.A., D’Antoni joined the Houston Rockets for the 2016-17 season. He showed some flexibility when he got them to play slowdown basketball, and it almost worked, as they came within one win of reaching the NBA Finals in 2018.
Charlotte has a promising young team that consists of not only Ball but also guard Terry Rozier, forward Miles Bridges and wing Kelly Oubre Jr.
D’Antoni’s fast-breaking, open-court style of offense, which was gradually adopted by more and more NBA teams over the past decade, would work wonders for the Hornets.
