The Charlotte Hornets have received permission to interview Lindsey Harding, the 2024 G League Coach of the Year, for their vacant head-coaching position, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported. Harding, 39, led the Stockton Kings to the best record in the G League this season after three years as an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings.
As a player, Harding starred at Duke in college and was selected No. 1 overall in the 2007 WNBA Draft. When her playing career ended in 2017, her coaching career had already begun -- she was an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors' summer league team in 2015. The Philadelphia 76ers hired her as a scout in 2018, and, months after they promoted her to player development coach, the Kings hired her away. In Sacramento, she worked under Luke Walton, Alvin Gentry and Mike Brown.
Harding is the coach of Mexico's national women's team, and she previously held the same position for South Sudan. She also played in Lithuania, Turkey and Russia and represented Belarus in international competitions late in her playing career.
The Hornets, whose current coach, Steve Clifford, will transition to a front-office role at the end of the season, will also interview Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Jay Larranaga, according to ESPN. Larranaga, 49, has spent the last three seasons on Tyronn Lue's staff, after spending nine years with the Boston Celtics, coaching under both Doc Rivers and Brad Stevens.
After a 12-year international playing career, Larranaga was an assistant coach at Cornell and then spent two seasons as the head coach of the Erie Bayhawks (now the Osceola Magic) of the D-League (now the G League).
This will not be Larranaga's first interview with Charlotte. In 2018, he was a finalist during the coaching search that led to the hire of James Borrego. That same offseason, the Milwaukee Bucks interviewed Larranaga for the job that ultimately went to Mike Budenholzer, the Atlanta Hawks interviewed him for the job that ultimately went to Lloyd Pierce and the New York Knicks interviewed him for the job that ultimately went to David Fizdale. Larranaga also interviewed for the Philadelphia 76ers job that went to Brett Brown in 2013, and he interviewed with the Celtics both in 2013, before they hired Brad Stevens, and in 2021, before they hired Ime Udoka.
Other candidates to replace Clifford include Denver Nuggets assistant coach David Adelman, Kings assistant coach Jordi Fernandez, Celtics assistant coach Charles Lee and Phoenix Suns assistant coach Kevin Young, all of whom the Hornets have received permission to interview, according to ESPN. Miami Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn and Utah Jazz assistant coach Lamar Skeeter are also expected to be considered for the position, according to Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer.
Jeff Peterson, Charlotte's new executive vice president, told reporters last week that he's looking for "a few things" from a prospective coach, including "a lively energy to come in with a level of excitement to teach these guys." Peterson said that player development will be a priority because the team is in a "youthful phase."
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