After four seasons coaching the Charlotte Hornets, James Borrego was relieved of his duties. The Hornets finished the 2021-22 season 43-39 and made it to the Play-In tournament. The Atlanta Hawks ended their season with a blowout win, which in turn ended Borrego’s tenure in Buzz City. There had been whispers of this move coming all season long, especially since the team failed to make the postseason all four years he’s been in town. Still, it comes as a little bit of a surprise. Borrego helped guide this team to 10 more wins each season, but it was something that had to happen.
Charlotte is dismissing coach James Borrego, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 22, 2022
3 Reasons Hornets Firing James Borrego Was Necessary
1. Clashing with LaMelo Ball
There was never any real substance to this, but it had been a rumor that’s been floating around since LaMelo Ball was drafted. It likely stemmed from Ball not being a day-one starter as soon as he walked into the building. Devonte’ Graham held the starting point guard spot for a lot of the season and was replaced by Ball about 20 games into the season. In Ball’s second season, social media was buzzing all year about the friction between Ball and Borrego.
Rumors start from somewhere even if it is from a source like Twitter. In press conferences in the past, Ball had expressed that he “could do more for the offense, they just gotta let him go,” time and time again. Maybe that played a deciding factor in management making the move to get Borrego out of town. Ball is looked at as the franchise player, so if he wants something, the team will more than likely accommodate him.
2. Poor defense
The Hornets were top-5 in points per game and offensive efficiency rating, but their defense is swiss cheese. They gave up 114 points per game in 2022. There was several different occasions where the Hornets failed to hold big leads. Of course, not having a real rim protector does hurt the team, but about 60 percent of defense is effort. Some of the schemes on the defensive end weren’t exactly effective either. Unfortunately for Borrego, that falls on him if he can’t get his team to step up its intensity on the defensive side of the ball.
With Borrego gone, maybe they can find the right head coach to get the best out of this team on that end of the floor. Offense is a necessity in today’s NBA, but defense can never be substituted for more offense. Hopefully the Hornets can find a way to revolutionize what they’ve done in the past four seasons to be effective on that end of the floor.
3. Just time for a change
In James Borrego’s four seasons in Charlotte, he was 138-163. The last three seasons have pretty much been rebuilding years after Kemba Walkers’ departure from the Hornets. Since then, the team has drafted fairly well, but haven’t struck gold until managing to snag LaMelo Ball. Miles Bridges has came into his own as of late and has shown signs that he can became a valid star. Meanwhile, James Bouknight has been put on the back burner and has also had a lot of friction with his former head coach.
A fresh face in the locker room could do the team wonders. If some of the young players weren’t too happy with how things were running, it could spark new life. There is a star point guard in place, with a dog on both ends of the court in Terry Rozier. Combine that with Bridges’ recent improvement and you have a solid big three to work with.
We all wish James Borrego the best in the future no matter where he ends up. Borrego caught a bad break, but can still go somewhere and have some success in the right situation. He just might’ve overstayed his welcome in Charlotte.
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