The worst part about any sport on any level is the fact that injuries can occur at any moment at any time. As everyone knows, it can derail a potential season and any possible goals that were set out from the beginning. That has been the case for the Charlotte Hornets. Sitting at 10-35 through the first 45 games of the season isn't where Hornets head coach Steve Clifford envisioned this team would be at the end of January. Even if you didn't have them penciled into a playoff spot, injuries took out whatever dream this team had to take a big leap in improvement.
“To be honest last year was difficult and this year has been brutal,” Clifford said when asked about the difference between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. “I believe the way it ended up last year we were either 29th or 30th in games missed by rotation players and this year it's the same. It's us and Memphis. No matter what for every team sport when you factor in reasons why will or will not reach your potential, health is near the top of the list. Basketball even more so because there's only 5 guys out there. One guy makes a big difference. I think I'm right in saying that our projected starting 5 has basically been active for 14 minutes at the same time all season. We have enough to win games if we play better. We can't worry about that.”
In some ways, this season does read like the same old story. LaMelo Ball only appeared in 36 games, Mark Williams in 43, and heck Miles Bridges missed out on an entire season in 2022-23, except that year the Hornets won 27 games. Gutted out some tough performances to be serviceable enough to catch a team slipping if they let them hang around too long. Fast forward to 2024 and Charlotte is not projected to even get to 20-plus wins, and there have been a flurry of injuries for the Hornets.
Clifford on the viral social media post
LaMelo Ball, James Bouknight, and Bryce McGowens were caught on camera and social media took it and ran with it. Some said “Charlotte's a mess” and other things along those lines. Clifford confirmed he didn't see the video, but he did hear about it.
“No matter what anybody says, our guys have done a good job of competing and working hard. So to think that they're not serious or they don't care, I don't worry about that because I'm here. When we lose they're disappointed. We have to find a way to sustain our play better. But our attitude is not the problem. In sports, there's a difference between being on a team that's losing and being a loser. I think people should be very careful about judging players when they're not around them every day.”
Regardless of what their record is, they still have a job to do. Let's see if they can get back in the win column on Wednesday night against the Chicago Bulls.
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