Report: Mike D’Antoni expected to receive consideration for Charlotte Hornets job opening

Though a handful of teams are still battling it out in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, other organizations already looking for ways to improve going into next season.

One such team is the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets were bounced in the play-in tournament this season despite having one of the best young stars in the league in LaMelo Ball.

Shortly after their season ended, the Hornets fired former head coach James Borrego. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, Mike D’Antoni is expected to receive consideration from the Hornets for their job opening.

“D’Antoni is expected to receive consideration for the Hornets’ opening,” Fischer wrote. “[Mitch] Kupchak hired him in 2012 to helm Los Angeles, and Charlotte is said to value previous head coaching experience in its search, similar to the process in Sacramento. D’Antoni’s uncanny ability to maximize playmaking point guards would seem to form a natural marriage with the Hornets’ future, featuring second-year All-Star Ball.”

Fischer added that Charlotte may be D’Antoni’s “best chance to return” to the NBA sidelines at the moment. D’Antoni has years of experience coaching in the NBA. Some of his stints have proven more successful than others.

His two best tenures as a head coach came with the Phoenix Suns from 2003 to 2008 and Houston Rockets from 2016 to 2020. While he enjoyed deep playoff runs with both teams, D’Antoni has yet to win an NBA championship in his coaching career.

Clearly, if he were to join the Hornets, there would be an understanding that the team is still some time away from contending for a title. Still, the team certainly has the talent to compete for a playoff spot.

It will be interesting to see if D’Antoni ends up being the coach that the organization depends on to get it over the hump.