NBA Rumors: Celtics' Charles Lee Among Candidates Eyed by Hornets for HC Interviews

The Charlotte Hornets are in the market for a new head coach after Steve Clifford announced that he is stepping down after this season.

Per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Charlotte has secured permission to speak with four assistants regarding the job: the Boston Celtics' Charles Lee, the Denver Nuggets' David Adelman, the Sacramento Kings' Jordi Fernandez and the Phoenix Suns' Kevin Young.

Wojnarowski added Charlotte is expected to interview more candidates for the opening.

All four candidates have solid resumes worthy of leading to a head coaching gig.

Lee, 39, has worked as an NBA assistant since 2014, first under Mike Budenholzer with the Atlanta Hawks (2014-2018) before leaving town with him when he became the Milwaukee Bucks' head coach. Lee won an NBA title with the Bucks in 2021.

Lee then left the Bucks for the Boston Celtics after Budenholzer was fired in 2023. The Celtics just won their 60th game and clinched home-court advantage in the NBA playoffs in the process.

Fernández, 41, is both the Sacramento Kings' associate head coach and the Canadian men's basketball team's head coach. He has head coaching experience with the G League's Canton Charge in 2014-15 and 2015-16 and fared well each time (31-19 record in both seasons). Since then, he's worked on the Denver Nuggets' staff (2016-2022) before leaving for Sacramento.

Young was a strong candidate for the Suns' head coaching position before it went to Frank Vogel. The 42-year-old still serves as an associate head coach, a position held since 2021.

Young has five years of head-coaching experience on the G League level before getting promoted in 2016 to become the 76ers' assistant head coach under Brett Brown. He left in 2020 to become a Suns assistant.

Adelman, the son of former NBA head coach Rick Adelman, NBA coach Rick Adelman, has been an assistant on the Nuggets since 2017. The 42-year-old began his NBA career as a player development coach in 2011. Five years later, he joined the Orlando Magic staff as an assistant. He then left for Denver one season afterward.