Hornets cannot repeat same mistake with Charles Lee’s extension

The Charlotte Hornets injected real momentum into the franchise with a resurgent season, and they wasted no time locking in head coach Charles Lee with an extension on Thursday. Their next step is simple but crucial: avoid repeating the James Borrego mistake. Lee needs the runway to build a legitimate contender, not another premature exit that derails long‑term progress.

The Hornets stumbled through the early stretch of the 2025–26 season, and plenty of fans directed their frustration at Lee. Now, those same fans can finally exhale — Lee isn’t going anywhere. Of course, that stability only lasts if Charlotte resists the urge to pivot at the first sign of turbulence next season. 

The James Borrego firing sent Charlotte spiraling

Whether you were pro‑ or anti‑Borrego, his firing felt mistimed. After taking over in 2018, Borrego earned a multiyear extension in August 2021 — a move that signaled stability. 

Instead, that extension offered him no real job security at all. Even after guiding the Hornets to 43 wins, their highest total in years, he was dismissed following another ugly Play‑In blowout.

There were deeper reasons behind the decision, but the fallout was undeniable. Charlotte entered a full‑blown identity crisis. 

Kenny Atkinson was expected to take the job before backing out to remain with Golden State, leaving the Hornets to pivot to Steve Clifford. Over the next two seasons, the team slid backward, finishing with 27 wins and then 21.

The Hornets probably should’ve given Borrego one more season. The coaching result destroyed all momentum that was built.

Why Charles Lee’s extension marks a true turning point

The silver lining in Charlotte’s wild coaching saga is that Lee is now firmly in charge, and the Clifford detour looks more and more like a sliding doors moment the franchise had to survive to get here. After delivering a staggering +.305 jump in win percentage from Year 1 to Year 2, Lee earned every bit of this extension. In many ways, it’s the formal validation of his Coach of the Year case.

With a third season on deck, Lee finally gets the continuity every successful program needs. He will have significant time to refine his schemes, develop his roster, and keep strengthening the culture he’s already begun to build. 

Plenty of fans were ready to bail early, but doing so would’ve thrown the Hornets right back into the same destructive cycle that began with Borrego’s exit. And with new ownership in place since Michael Jordan sold his majority stake to Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin, this genuinely feels like the start of a new era. 

The Hornets cannot afford another reset, another identity crisis, or another coaching carousel. Extending Lee is justified, but the hope is that the franchise has finally learned from its past and has committed to real stability moving forward.

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