As a veteran observer of the pro basketball ranks, Steve Clifford follows a certain mantra.
“I think the one thing you learn when you first get into the NBA,” the Charlotte Hornets coach said, “is you’ve got to be able to handle frustration, disappointment, losing, injuries, whatever. I will say this: I’ve never been through anything like this and I’ve been doing this for a long time.”
To say the last few months have been an adventure for the Hornets is an understatement. Between Miles Bridges’ season-opening suspension, various injuries to LaMelo Ball, Mark Willams and Cody Martin, to the trading of Terry Rozier, Gordon Hayward and PJ Washington, it feels almost like the Hornets have fielded three or four seasons in one.