# List of Charlotte Hornets head coaches

The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Hornets began playing in 1988 as an expansion team, before relocating to New Orleans in 2002 and renaming themselves as the Pelicans in 2013. Charlotte was then awarded a new expansion team named the Bobcats in 2004, which reassumed the Hornets name in 2014. In a deal with the NBA and Pelicans, the renamed Hornets also reclaimed the history and records of the original Hornets from 1988 to 2002, while all of the original Hornets' records from 2002 to 2013 will remain with the Pelicans.
The Hornets franchise have played their home games at the Spectrum Center, formerly known as the Charlotte Bobcats Arena and the Time Warner Cable Arena, since 2005. The Hornets were owned by Michael Jordan, but are now owned by Gabe Plotkin & Rick Schnall, with Jordan retaining a minority stake.
There have been 10 head coaches for the Hornets franchise. The franchise's first head coach was Dick Harter, who coached for two seasons. Allan Bristow and Steve Clifford are the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season games coached (410); Bristow is also the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular-season game wins (207); Dave Cowens is the franchise's all-time leader for the highest winning percentage in the regular season (.609); Paul Silas is the franchise's all-time leader for the most playoff games coached (23), and the most playoff-game wins (11). Harter, Bristow, Sam Vincent and Mike Dunlap have spent their entire NBA coaching careers with the Hornets franchise. Larry Brown is the only coach of the franchise to have been elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach. The previous head coach of the Hornets was Steve Clifford, who returned and coached two seasons as head coach. The current head coach of the Hornets is Charles Lee, who was hired by the Hornets on May 9, 2024.

## Key

| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Hornets |
| † | Elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach |

## Coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season.
| # | Name | Term | GC | W | L | Win% | GC | W | L | Win% |
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Achievements | Reference |
| Charlotte Hornets |||||||||||||
| 1 | Dick Harter* | 1988–1990 | 122 | 28 | 94 | .230 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2 | Gene Littles | 1990–1991 | 124 | 37 | 87 | .298 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 3 | Allan Bristow* | 1991–1996 | 410 | 207 | 203 | .505 | 13 | 5 | 8 | .385 |
| 4 | Dave Cowens | 1996–1999 | 179 | 109 | 70 | .609 | 12 | 4 | 8 | .333 |
| 5 | Paul Silas | 1999–2002 | 281 | 161 | 120 | .573 | 23 | 11 | 12 | .478 |
| Charlotte Bobcats |||||||||||||
| 6 | Bernie Bickerstaff | 2004–2007 | 246 | 77 | 169 | .313 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 7 | Sam Vincent* | 2007–2008 | 82 | 32 | 50 | .390 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 8 | Larry Brown† | 2008–2010 | 192 | 88 | 104 | .458 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
| — | Paul Silas | 2010–2012 | 120 | 32 | 88 | .267 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 9 | Mike Dunlap* | 2012–2013 | 82 | 21 | 61 | .256 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 10 | Steve Clifford | 2013–2014 | 82 | 43 | 39 | .524 | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
| Charlotte Hornets |||||||||||||
| — | Steve Clifford | 2014–2018 | 328 | 153 | 175 | .466 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 |
| 11 | James Borrego | 2018–2022 | 301 | 138 | 163 | .458 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| — | Steve Clifford | 2022–2024 | 164 | 48 | 116 | .293 | — | — | — | – |
| 12 | Charles Lee | 2024–present | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | — | — | — | – |
* Dave Cowens coached the Hornets for three seasons from 1996 to 1999.
* Steve Clifford is the longest-serving head coach from 2013 to 2018 and since 2022 to 2024.