The Charlotte Hornets have gotten off to an impressive start so far this season as they are 8-6 and right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race early on. The Hornets had some pretty high expectations coming into the season but they were tempered a little bit when Michael Kidd-Gilchrist went down with a season-ending injury yet they have still played well. A lot of their success so far has to be credited to head coach Steve Clifford and because of that he is reportedly getting a three year extension, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
Clifford was hired by Charlotte back in 2013 and was able to reach the playoffs in his first year as an NBA head coach. Since then though, Clifford hasn't had great success as his overall record is 84-94 but that is due to a myriad of different reasons and he is considered a solid head coach around the league.
The reported extension is for three years and although no money has been announced it is expected to keep him in Charlotte through the 2018-19 season. Clifford has done a lot of adjusting as the head coach of the Hornets as he had to deal with the Kidd-Gilchrist injury and he went from running his offense through big man Al Jefferson to running it through Nicolas Batum this year and so far that has worked.
In the past couple of seasons the Hornets offense has kind of gone stagnant at times as they would just let Jefferson and Kemba Walker go make plays but this year with Batum being the focal point things have been more fluid. Because of the adjustments Clifford has made Walker has started the season with career highs in major categories including points per game (18.4) and field goal percentage (46.)
Before becoming the head coach in Charlotte Clifford started out as a scout for the New York Knicks working under Jeff Van Gundy. After that he paid his dues as an assistant coach in three different places before finally getting his chance with the Hornets to be a head coach and it looks as though he will get to continue in that role for quite some more time.
