Charlotte Hornets’ PR and Steve Clifford Both Nominated for Awards
The Professional Basketball Writers Association has nominated both the Charlotte Hornets’ PR and Steve Clifford for separate awards this season.
Even though the Charlotte Hornets have struggled on the court this season, the PBWA chose to recognize their PR team and head coach Steve Clifford for their cooperation with the media. The PR team has been nominated for the Brian McIntyre Award for the NBA’s top PR team while Clifford is a finalist for the Rudy Tomjanovich Award.
Charlotte’s PR team will be up against the PR team’s of the Detroit Pistons, the Golden State Warriors, the Phoenix Suns and the Toronto Raptors for the Brian McIntyre Award. These six teams were named finalists for the award by the Professional Basketball Writers Association this season. Golden State looking to take home the award for the second consecutive season.
The Warriors’ PR team has won the McIntyre award twice in the past three years. Toronto won the award two years ago in the 2014-15 NBA season. The award for the NBA’s best PR team was created only a few years ago as the Indiana Pacers won the inaugural one back in 2013-14.
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As for Steve Clifford, he is up against Mike D’Antoni, David Fizdale, Brad Stevens and Stan Van Gundy for the Rudy Tomjanovich award. Whichever coach wins this season, it will be their first time receiving this honor. Since the 2012-13 season, George Karl, Frank Vogel, Steve Kerr and Dwane Casey have each won for being the NBA coach who best cooperates with the media.
The Hornets’ PR and Clifford have never won these awards so it would be pretty impressive for them to get some recognition for their hard work and synergy with media members.
Even with the Hornets’ struggles, the PR team and Coach Clifford have been bright spots. People can question the head coach’s strategy for his players but Steve is clearly one of the best in the league at handling the media.
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These awards might not mean much to the average fan but they can go a long way for PR staffs and coaches. Not every team or head coach is liked by the media. It speaks volumes about the way the Charlotte Hornets and Steve Clifford handle themselves. And if you haven’t checked out the team’s PR account on Twitter, they are pretty awesome and are always dropping gems.