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NBA Coaching Carousel: Five NBA Coaches on the Hot Seat

By Daniel Tran

Apr 9, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau yells during the second half against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 9, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau yells during the second half against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 10, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Charlotte Hornets head coach Steve Clifford reacts to the play against the Atlanta Hawks during the second half at Philips Arena. The Hawks defeated the Hornets 104-80. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

Steve Clifford

Life for Steve Clifford was never going to be easy. When Clifford took over as head coach for the then Charlotte Bobcats in 2013, he inherited a team that only had one winning season and one playoff appearance in nine years, in which it took a Hall of Fame coach in Larry Brown to pull off that small miracle with a ragtag group that included Gerald Wallace, not crazy Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw, Raymond Felton and Raja Bell.

Somehow last year, Clifford managed to lead a team with a motivated Al Jefferson, Kemba Walker, Gerald Henderson, and Josh McRoberts to a winning record and the NBA Playoffs. Though that was only a year ago, that run seems like a lifetime away with another losing record in the record for the now Charlotte Hornets this year.

The decline of Al Jefferson due to injury and loss of Josh McRoberts did not help Clifford in a lost season, but it also didn’t help when he could not get on the same page with Lance Stephenson, who he could not help live up to his three-year, $27 million contract. He has the support of Kemba Walker at least, but like Scott Brooks’ situation in Oklahoma City, sometimes the support of star players may not be enough as the Hornets ranked 28th in offensive efficiency this past season.

Let’s also not forget that the hyper-competitive Michael Jordan is the owner of this team. He has done a good job of trusting and delegating responsibility to his front office, but if Clifford starts off cold in the upcoming season, expect Jordan to get really interested in the team again and look for the head coaches seat to heat up really fast.

Next: Byron Scott

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