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Hornets re-hire former coach Steve Clifford after Kenny Atkinson turned down job

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Jeremy Brevard / USA TODAY Sports

In one of the more surprising coaching hires in recent memory, the Charlotte Hornets are rehiring someone they let go of in 2018, Steve Clifford, to be their new head coach, the team announced Friday. The Hornets had initially landed on Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson as their head coach, but Atkinson backed out after the Warriors won the championship. That forced the Hornets to pivot, and they landed on a coach they know quite well. 

Clifford coached the Magic from 2013-18 and made the playoffs twice in that span. He was fired at the end of the 2017-18 season and took over the Orlando Magic from there. He took the Magic to the playoffs twice as well, but when Orlando pivoted into a rebuild, the two sides mutually decided to part ways. Now Clifford returns to the Hornets team that gave him his first shot as a head coach.

When Atkinson was hired for the job initially, reports indicated that former Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni and former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts were the two other finalists. The two of them were seemingly set to compete for the job Atkinson turned down, but the Hornets went in an entirely different direction by landing on Clifford.

Defense has been the organization’s priority in seeking a new coach. James Borrego could never build one without a steady starting center, and that resulted in two play-in losses over the past two seasons. D’Antoni and Stotts are known for their offensive acumen, and while that would have benefitted star guard LaMelo Ball greatly, Clifford’s reputation as a great defensive mind surely helped his case here. 

The Hornets know Clifford better than any other team in the NBA. Their decision to hire him back says everything you need to know about him as a coach. They know what they’re looking for and believe they’ve found it. 

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Southeast Draft Notes: Holmgren, Hornets, Williams, O’Neal

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Chet Holmgren met with the Magic‘s front office on Wednesday and Thursday, writes Matt Murschel of The Orlando Sentinel. Holmgren is the No. 1 prospect on ESPN’s big board, although his thin frame has caused some other talent evaluators to drop him a bit lower than that.

A person with knowledge of the situation tells Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press that the 20-year-old’s visit included “meetings, interviews and a dinner.” The Magic previously held a solo workout with Jabari Smith, and Paolo Banchero “expects to meet with” Orlando before the draft on June 23, according to Reynolds.

The big men are widely considered the top three prospects in the draft, and the Magic hold the No. 1 overall pick, so it makes perfect sense that they’re meeting with all of them.

In 32 games (26.9 MPG) in his lone college season with Gonzaga, Holmgren was a consensus All-American with averages of 14.1 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 1.9 APG and 3.7 BPG on .607/.390/.717 shooting.

Here are a few more draft-related notes from the Southeast Division:

  • The Hornets, who control the Nos. 13, 15 and 45 picks in the 2022 draft, are hosting a group workout on Friday (Twitter link) featuring Malaki Branham, MarJon Beauchamp, Kendall Brown, Bryce McGowens, Isaiah Whaley and Trevion Williams. Branham (No. 13) and Beauchamp (No. 23) are both projected first-round picks, with McGowens (No. 33) and Brown (No. 38) considered early second-rounders. Williams also has a solid shot to get drafted going by ESPN’s rankings, as he’s No. 56 on the board, but Whaley isn’t listed.
  • Mark Williams has a solo workout with the Wizards on Friday, tweets Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Williams is a potential lottery picked at No. 14 on ESPN’s board, and Washington controls the No. 10 pick. The 7’0″ center averaged 11.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 2.8 BPG while shooting 72.1% from the floor and 72.7% from the free-throw line in 39 games (23.6 MPG) as a sophomore for Duke this season, winning ACC Defensive Player of the Year in the process.
  • Shareef O’Neal worked out for the Heat on Thursday, Robbins relays in another tweet. O’Neal only averaged 2.9 PPG and 2.1 RPG in 14 games (9.2 MPG) as a junior for LSU and isn’t considered a strong draft candidate, but perhaps he could be auditioning for summer league as an undrafted free agent. Miami currently controls the No. 27 pick.



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Charlotte Hornets to hire Kenny Atkinson as new head coach, sources say

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Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson has agreed to a four-year deal to become the new head coach of the Charlotte Hornets, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday.

Atkinson will replace James Borrego, who was fired in April after going 138-163 in his four seasons with the team.

The Hornets had narrowed their search to Atkinson and Mike D’Antoni. Both candidates already had two meetings with management, including with general manager Mitch Kupchak, and then met with owner Michael Jordan this week.

Atkinson is the second Golden State assistant coach set to leave the Warriors and take over a new team. Mike Brown was hired to coach the Sacramento Kings next season. Both are remaining with Golden State through the end of the NBA Finals, with Game 4 against the Boston Celtics set for Friday night and Golden State trailing in the best-of-seven series 2-1.

Atkinson was 118-190 in three-plus years with the Brooklyn Nets, inheriting a full rebuild and showing improvement each season until he resigned after an injury-plagued 2019-20 season. He spent the 2020-21 season with the LA Clippers as an assistant before joining Steve Kerr’s staff in Golden State ahead of this run to the NBA Finals.

Overall, he has spent nine seasons as an NBA assistant, including four with the New York Knicks, three with the Atlanta Hawks and one each with the Clippers and Warriors.

The Hornets have missed the playoffs in six consecutive seasons, the longest drought in franchise history and second-longest active streak behind the Kings (16). But Charlotte has several building blocks on a team that went 43-39 during the regular season to reach the play-in game, including All-Star LaMelo Ball and Miles Bridges, who is set to be a restricted free agent.

This past season, Charlotte struggled defensively, allowing 114.9 points per game, which was tied for 25th in the league. Atkinson improved the Nets’ defensive efficiency in every season of his four-year tenure, taking them from 23rd in 2017 to ninth in 2020.

ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.

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Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan to meet with head-coaching finalists Mike D’Antoni, Kenny Atkinson this week, sources say

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Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan is expected to meet with two finalists for the franchise’s coaching job this week, including Mike D’Antoni, sources told ESPN.

Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson is set to meet with Jordan on Tuesday, and D’Antoni’s visit is expected later in the week, sources said.

Atkinson and D’Antoni have already had two meetings with management, including with general manager Mitch Kupchak, in the Hornets’ process, sources said.

The Hornets fired James Borrego after four seasons in April.

D’Antoni was 217-102 in his four seasons (2016-2020) as Rockets coach, advancing once to the Western Conference finals and three times to the conference semifinals. D’Antoni, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, led the Rockets to the highest winning percentage in the Western Conference over those four years (.682), trailing only the Toronto Raptors (.695) in the entire league.

Across 16 seasons as a head coach with Denver, Phoenix, the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Houston, D’Antoni is 672-527 (.560) and 54-56 in the playoffs. He is a two-time NBA coach of the year (2004 and 2017).

Atkinson could become the second Golden State assistant coach poised to leave the Warriors and take over a new team. Mike Brown was hired to coach the Sacramento Kings next season.

Atkinson was 118-190 in three-plus years with the Nets, inheriting a full rebuild and showing improvement each season until resigning after an injury-plagued 2019-20 season. He spent the 2020-21 season with the Los Angeles Clippers as an assistant before joining Kerr’s staff ahead of this run to the NBA Finals.

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Mike D’Antoni identified as serious candidate as Charlotte Hornets begin interviews for coaching vacancy, sources say

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The Charlotte Hornets are beginning to interview candidates for the franchise’s head-coaching opening, including the possibility of a reunion for general manager Mitch Kupchak with ex-Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni, sources told ESPN.

D’Antoni has been identified as a serious candidate early in the process, especially because of the possibility of pairing him with young point guard LaMelo Ball, sources said.

D’Antoni will meet with the Hornets along with several current assistant coaches whom Charlotte requested permission to speak to, including Golden State’s Kenny Atkinson, Milwaukee’s Darvin Ham and Dallas’ Sean Sweeney, sources said. All three of those assistants are currently coaching in the playoffs.

Atkinson, 54, inherited a downtrodden Nets team and led it to the Eastern Conference playoffs in his third season in 2018-2019. He built a strong reputation in player development as both an assistant and head coach.

Ham has been a part of Mike Budenholzer’s staffs with Milwaukee and Atlanta and been in serious consideration for several head-coaching jobs in recent years, including his current involvement with the Lakers’ opening.

Sweeney is considered the architect of the Mavericks’ surprising defense this season, and he worked with head coach Jason Kidd with both the Nets and Bucks. This is his first interview for a head-coaching job.

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 the past season as a coaching consultant for Willie Green and the New Orleans Pelicans.

Charlotte fired coach James Borrego, who led the Hornets to consecutive appearances in the play-in tournament and made improvements of 10-plus wins in consecutive seasons on the job.

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Charlotte Hornets fire coach James Borrego after four seasons

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11:47 AM ET

  • Tim BontempsESPN

The Charlotte Hornets have fired coach James Borrego, general manager Mitch Kupchak announced Friday.

Borrego, 44, was 138-163 over his four seasons with Charlotte — the last three of which came as the Hornets were rebuilding in the wake of franchise icon Kemba Walker’s departure for Boston in free agency in 2019.

Since the 2019-20 season, Borrego oversaw 10-win improvements for the Hornets year over year. Charlotte went from 23-42 in 2019-20 to 33-39 in 2020-21 to 43-39 this season.

Borrego also oversaw player-development successes in LaMelo Ball, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year and an All-Star this season; Miles Bridges, who is in line for a big contract this summer as a restricted free agent; and Devonte’ Graham, who was fifth in the NBA’s Most Improved Player voting in 2019-20.

Charlotte’s season ended last week in the play-in tournament, losing 132-103 to the Atlanta Hawks. It was the second year in a row that the Hornets lost their first play-in game as the 10-seed. Charlotte went into both play-in games without Gordon Hayward, who was out because of injuries.

“I want to thank JB for his hard work and commitment during these past four seasons,” Kupchak said in a statement. “Beyond his work as a coach, he is a tremendous person. I wish him and his family the best in the future. These decisions are always difficult. Having said that, we have a talented, young core of players which has me very excited about the future of the Hornets. We will begin the search for our new head coach immediately.”

Borrego previously served as Orlando Magic coach for the final 30 games of the 2014-15 season, replacing Jacque Vaughn after he was fired midseason. He has also worked as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans and the Magic.

The Hornets have missed the playoffs for six straight seasons and have made them just three times over 18 seasons since returning to the NBA in 2004, failing to make it out of the first round in each appearance.

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Charlotte Hornets’ Miles Bridges fined $50K for throwing mouthpiece into stands

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The NBA fined Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges $50,000 Thursday for throwing his mouthpiece into the crowd after he was ejected from Wednesday night’s play-in game loss to the Hawks in Atlanta.

The incident occurred after Bridges was whistled for a goaltending call midway through the fourth quarter and immediately went after game official James Williams, who called two quick technicals on him.

As Bridges left the court and headed to the Charlotte locker room, a Hawks fan yelled in his direction, leading Bridges to turn around and throw his mouthpiece, which hit a fan who was standing nearby. The Charlotte Observer reported that the girl he hit with his mouthpiece is 16.

Bridges apologized after the game for the incident and again Thursday following his exit interview in Charlotte.

“I lost my cool last night with a lot of stuff that went on,” Bridges said. “I normally don’t act like that and that was an embarrassment on my part and for the organization.”

Bridges said he was ready to take “full responsibility” for any punishment the league handed down.

“I deserve it,” Bridges said. “You are never supposed to go out like that, especially because the fans come to the game to watch you play. For their safety to be in danger at that time, that is wrong on my part. I take full responsibility.”

Bridges said he has reached out to the young fan on Instagram to apologize but has not heard back. The Hornets public relations department said it is trying to get Bridges in touch with the fan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Hawks vs. Hornets score, takeaways: Atlanta advances to face Cleveland for No. 8 seed after dominant win

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The Atlanta Hawks are one step closer to securing a berth in the 2022 NBA Playoffs after dominating the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night at State Farm Arena by a score of 132-103. The Hawks were ahead for, essentially, the entire evening before really opening the game up during the third quarter and creating a deficit that the Hornets just couldn’t come close to overcoming. 

While Trae Young led the charge on the offensive end for the Hawks with 24 points and 11 assists, Atlanta received contributions from up and down their roster as six players, in total, scored in double figures in the win. LaMelo Ball finished with a team-high 24 points for the Hornets but, in a rather inefficient manner, it took him 25 shot attempts to get there. 

Now, we will see which team can come out on top on Friday night when the Hawks and Cavaliers meet for the right to face the Miami Heat. Here are the three biggest takeaways from tonight’s game.

1. Trae Young is defense-proof

Trae Young shot 3-of-13 from the field in the first half. It was the sort of performance that could not be understood through a box score. Even as Young’s shots kept missing, the Hawks kept scoring. They had 60 in the first half precisely because of all of the extra attention Charlotte gave to Young. They picked him up at half court and trapped him off of screens, but because Young is such a dynamic passer and can shoot from so far behind the line, all those tactics did was open things up for his teammates. They delivered with a stellar half.

So the Hornets eased up a bit in the second, switching more screens. Young roasted the poor bigs Charlotte put on the floor for him to hunt from there, this time beating them as much as a scorer as he did as a passer. The Hawks scored 132 points in the game and won Young’s minutes by 27 points.

This is the level Young has ascended to in big games. The Knicks, Bucks and Sixers saw it in last year’s playoffs. There’s no defense you can use against him that won’t consistently lead to good offense for the Hawks. Drop and he’ll hit you with floater after floater. Go under and he’ll go up for logo 3s. Play too aggressively and he’ll rack up free throws. Even Philadelphia, with Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle to throw at him in more conventional defenses, couldn’t stop him outright. 

This is the highest level of playoff offense, the one reserved for only the best shot-creators in basketball. At a given time, there are usually only three or four players in basketball who are defense-proof in this way. LeBron James and James Harden were there for years. Stephen Curry might still be. Luka Doncic and Trae Young have ascended to that point now and should be there for quite some time. If the Hawks can give Young the right teammates, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to score like this for years to come. 

2. LaMelo LaBusts

A year ago, LaMelo Ball shot 4-of-14 in a blowout play-in loss to the Pacers. Tonight, he shot 7-of-25 in a blowout play-in loss to the Hawks. Now, this is a two-game sample. It’s not especially meaningful in the grand scheme of things, and as the Hornets progress and figure out the roster around him, he’s going to have plenty more big games to prove himself in. It’s far too early to wonder about his fit in high-leverage situations.

But what we can say much more definitively is that Ball lacks Young’s undeniability. He is not the sort of player who can look at any defense an opponent throws at him and immediately have a counter. This is an All-Star who has scored in single digits 16 times in his two NBA seasons. He obviously isn’t close to his prime, but he’s not the sort of singular creator most teams tend to prefer out of their star point guards. He is more of a flow player, a killer in transition that can function within an offense but hasn’t yet figured out how to own it in the way that Young does.

There’s no reason to believe that he can’t. He’s only in his second season, after all, and while he’s not the smooth pick-and-roll operator that Young is, he shares Young’s incredible passing vision and shooting range. The pieces are there, but like his brother, he’s an inconsistent finisher and mid-range operator who prefers to keep the ball moving. That’s fine in the regular season. It’s something he’s going to have to work on for the postseason if he’s going to be the sort of player who can lead his team on a deep run.

3. Will the Hornets please find a center?

At this point, we should all just feel bad for James Borrego. This man has been Rube Goldberging his way into half-decent defenses for years with nothing but 6-7 centers and disinterested guards, and finally, that approach has seemingly run its course. Mason Plumlee and Montrezl Harrell were the underwhelming centers this year, but for Borrego’s entire tenure the Hornets have failed to give him a single adequate rim-protector. 

That killed them in this game as it has for most of the season. The Hawks got easy dribble penetration for most of the first half, and they used it to kick the ball out to shooters. When the Hornets stayed at home on those shooters in the second half, the Hawks got all of the layups and dunks they wanted. This is preventable with the right big man. It’s about time the Hornets went out and found one.

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Science

Invading murder hornets could be stopped with ‘sex spray’

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An invasive species of hornet are being trapped by researchers with a nifty science trick. 

Researchers have studied the sex pheromones of the queen hornet and used them to set up traps that have male hornets flocking.

The Asian giant hornet, which was dubbed the “murder hornet” by the media, is native to East Asia but touched down in the United States in late 2019.

The wily bug has a stinger about a quarter-inch long.

The murder hornet wreaks havoc on honey bee colonies and crop fields, putting the livelihood of insects and people at stake.

Professor James Nieh, one of the leading researchers studying how to capture murder hornets, told The Independent “They are amazing social insects, but they don’t belong in North America and harm our critical bee populations, so we should remove them.”

Scientists found that the male murder hornet is intensely attracted to the scent of the queen’s pheromones, which is primarily made of three different acids.

These acids are commercially available and used in traps that yielded thousands of captured male murder hornets.

The male murder hornets are misled into thinking they might find a breeding opportunity but end up meeting their demise in the bottom of a trap.

Scientists found that the male murder hornet is intensely attracted to the scent of the queen’s pheromones.
Nieh et al/Science Direct

“The males are drawn to the odors of the females since they typically mate with them near their nests,” Nieh said in a press release.

Nieh thinks a pheromone bait will attract a good portion of the male murder hornets within a mile of the trap.

By cutting off the queens’ access to males the risk of murder hornets breeding will be greatly reduced and their population will be driven down.

The Washington State Department of Agriculture posted a map of existing murder hornet traps of all varieties set up along the US-Canada border.

In Asia, murder hornets kill about 50 people per year.

Their stinger injects a small dose of a neurotoxin called mandaratoxin, but researchers have found the hornets are also capable of spraying venom into victims’ eyes.

Murder hornets wreak havoc on honey bee colonies and crop fields.
POOL/AFP via Getty Images

In 2013, swarms of murder hornets were responsible for 28 deaths and scores of injuries in China’s Shaanxi Province.

Experts advise that if you’re attacked by murder hornets, resist the urge to swat at them. Your best choice is to run away as fast as possible while covering your face.

Wildlife expert and YouTube stuntman Coyote Peterson deliberately stung himself with a captured murder hornet and said “it will put you in momentous amounts of pain for around six hours.”

This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been reproduced here with permission. 

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Science

Researchers Could Lure Murder Hornets to Their Deaths with Sex

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Two drones mate with an Asian giant hornet queen.
Gif: James Nieh

Birds do it, bees do it—even the wasps that kill bees do it. A clever team of scientists now has an idea to use the Asian giant hornets’ horniness against them, in hopes of stopping the invasive species from decimating U.S. bee populations. They’ve identified the sex pheromones of the queen and propose trapping the hornet drones that are lured in by the pheromones.

The Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia) preys on bees, and its stings are pretty painful to humans (they can kill people who are allergic to their venom). The hornets are native to Asia but have recently spread into the U.S.; they were first caught in Washington State in August 2020, and since then, they’ve spread across the American northwest. This invasion is worrying, since the hornets can slaughter a honeybee hive in a matter of hours.

Recently, a team of entomologists caught a bunch of virgin giant hornet queens and their drones from colonies in Yunnan, China. They swabbed the queens’ sex glands and used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify pheromone compounds from six of the queens. The team’s findings were published today in Current Biology.

“We were able to isolate the major components of the female sex pheromone, a odor blend that is highly attractive to males who compete to mate with virgin queens,” said James Nieh, an entomologist at the University of California at San Diego and co-author of the recent paper, in an email to Gizmodo. “When these components or their blend was tested in sticky traps, they captured thousands of males.”

“Such traps are also usually highly specific, as we found in our study,” Nieh added. “We did not capture any other insects or even female giant hornets. This reduces their ecological impact.”

Asian giant hornets are the world’s largest hornet species, measuring up to 2 inches long (about as long as your thumb) with a 3-inch wingspan. Their abdomens are striped orange and black. So far, their spread in North America is limited to British Columbia and Washington State, but researchers fear the insects will continue to spread without swift action to stop them. Currently, entomologists try to manage the hornet population by manually removing their nests. But finding the nests is difficult, and using pheromone traps would mean that the insects would head to their own executions.

The hornets notoriously decapitate bees and then carry their thoraxes home as food for larvae. When under attack, the bees make a sound that researchers believe is akin to screaming.

Honeybees do have some defenses to the hornets. By huddling together and “shimmering” in specific patterns, the bees can confuse hornets seeking to attack any individual bee. Bees also smear the entrance to their hives with animal poop as a deterrence, and some unfortunate hornets even get cooked alive by bees that vibrate around them, generating temperatures hot enough to kill the invaders.

A team from the Washington State Department of Agriculture works on removing a giant hornet nest in October 2020.
Photo: ELAINE THOMPSON/POOL/AFP (Getty Images)

The main pheromone components the team identified were hexanoic acid, octanoic acid, and decanoic acid. Hexanoic (or caproic) acid has a fatty, cheesy, sometimes urinous odor; octanoic acid has a slightly rancid odor and is found naturally in some animal milks; and decanoic acid has a similarly pungent scent and is used in some fruit flavorings. The murder hornet drones go wild for this chemical cocktail.

Next, Nieh’s research team will test the distances at which pheromone traps are effective in China’s upcoming hornet season. In the lab, they’ll try to hone in on what other chemical components are important in the pheromone, to better mimic the natural chemistry.

Pest management vis-a-vis pheromones is already a big industry, but humans and bees alike would be particularly eager to see the success of these pheromone traps on the Asian giant hornet. If vacuum-wielding humans can’t eradicate them, perhaps the animal’s own reproductive instincts will.

More: What’s the Horniest Animal?

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