Hornets reward coach James Borrego with multi-year extension

The Charlotte Hornets are reportedly finalizing a contract extension with head coach James Borrego.

The Charlotte Hornets enjoyed some great success this past season, where they were just two play-in round victories away from clinching their first playoff berth since 2016. As a result of a rather successful campaign, the Hornets are rewarding head coach James Borrego.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Hornets are finalizing a multi-year contract extension with Borrego. The head coach was entering the final year of his four-year deal with the team.

Hornets finalizing contract extension with head coach James Borrego

Borrego had spent nearly 15 years as an assistant coach on the San Antonio Spurs, the then-New Orleans Hornets and the Orlando Magic. In fact, Borrego served as the interim head coach for the Magic for 30 games in 2015 (10-20 record). Borrego has two NBA championships to his credit back in 2005 and 2007 during his time working under Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.

Then in 2018, Charlotte named Borrego as their head coach. In his first two seasons with the team, Borrego compiled a 62-85 record. Yet, this past season was arguably the one that brought the most eyes to the Hornets.

With the third overall selection, the team selected guard LaMelo Ball to essentially be the focal point of their team. Ball lived up to the hype throughout his first season, despite missing time with a fractured wrist, and he won the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award.

After finishing the regular season with a 33-39 record, Charlotte earned the 10th seed in the play-in round, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers by the score of 144-117.

The Hornets are focused on building off this past season, as evidenced by the free-agency signing of Kelly Oubre. But the organization is placing all of their faith in Borrego being the guy to lead them to new heights.