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.Hornets all the buzz in Charlotte. ESPN, 2014-05-20.

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 GCGames coachedWWinsLLossesWin%Winning percentage#Number of coaches*Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the HornetsElected into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach

Coaches Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the . # Name Term GC W L Win% GC W L Win% Achievements ReferenceRegular seasonPlayoffs Charlotte Hornets1*– 122 28 94 0 0 0 2– 124 37 87 0 0 0 3*– 410 207 203 13 5 8 4– 179 109 70 12 4 8 5– 281 161 120 23 11 12 Charlotte Bobcats6 – 246 77 169 0 0 0 7* 82 32 50 0 0 0 8 – 192 88 104 4 0 4 — – 120 32 88 0 0 0 9* – 82 21 61 0 0 0 10 82 43 39 4 0 4 Charlotte Hornets—– 328 153 175 7 3 4 11– 301 138 163 0 0 0 —– 164 48 116 — — — 12Charles Lee–present 164 63 101 — — —

Notes A running total of the number of coaches of the Bobcats/Hornets. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once. Each year is linked to an article about that particular NBA season. Paul Silas has a combined total of 401 regular season games coached, with a W–L record of 193–208, for a winning percentage during his non-consecutive tenures in Charlotte.

Franchise leaders All-time leaders – as of the end of the 2021–22 NBA season. Bold denotes active coach with the team.

Most games coached Steve Clifford – 574 Allan Bristow – 410 Paul Silas – 401 James Borrego – 301 Bernie Bickerstaff – 246

Most wins coached Steve Clifford – 244 Allan Bristow – 207 Paul Silas – 193 James Borrego – 138 Dave Cowens – 109

Best winning % Dave Cowens – .609 Allan Bristow – .505 Paul Silas – .481 Larry Brown – .458 Steve Clifford – .425

Most playoff games coached Paul Silas – 23 Allan Bristow – 13 Dave Cowens – 12 Steve Clifford – 11 Larry Brown – 4

Most playoff wins coached Paul Silas – 11 Allan Bristow – 5 Dave Cowens – 4 Steve Clifford – 3

Best playoff winning % Paul Silas – .478 Allan Bristow – .385 Dave Cowens – .333 Steve Clifford – .273

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