Charles Lee noticed the turnaround coming earlier than it was cheap to consider one may occur. On New Year’s Day, the Charlotte Hornets had been 11-22 with the NBA’s Twenty sixth-ranked protection and a bunch of accidents that had seemingly sunk their season earlier than it may get off the floor.
There’s a great likelihood, in the event you’re studying this, that you simply already know what occurred subsequent: arguably the most abrupt and exhilarating U-turn in league historical past.
Since that day, the Hornets are 22-11 with the NBA’s most effective offense, highest web ranking, sixth-finest protection, and most potent starting Over the summer time, it wasn’t that onerous to take a look at Charlotte’s potential and suppose the workforce would exceed expectations. Health keen, LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Moussa Diabaté could be superb. Splash in Kon Knueppel—the fourth general choose in 2025 who’s turn out to be the most effective rookie in NBA historical past—and you’ve got a number of extraordinarily interesting and complementary profitable substances. But this? Absolutely not. Unless you’re Lee.
Last week, in a cellphone interview, I requested Charlotte’s head coach when precisely he realized one thing particular was taking place. “I felt it during the offseason,” Lee informed The Ringer, citing the workforce’s personnel strikes and a basic uptick in professionalism from Charlotte’s returning “And, you know, even as we went through that period where the results might not have been there, you still felt our team was learning. They were growing. They were still believing in everything that we did.”
When he was employed in May 2024, after assistant teaching gigs with the Hawks, Bucks, and Celtics, Lee’s main focus was “elevating the standards for competitiveness and really trying to get the group to play hard.” That principally revolved round establishing a few of the defensive ideas that Charlotte hadn’t seen in a decade. He didn’t even talk about offense throughout his first coaching camp follow. “The players probably couldn’t stand me,” Lee stated. “Some of the coaches were probably pissed at me, but I thought that’s where we needed to start.”
Using items of an id carried over from the Celtics, whom Lee helped coach throughout their 2023-24 championship run, the Hornets choked off nook 3s and dramatically diminished the variety of factors they allowed in the paint. There was loads of room for enchancment, however after establishing some baseline defensive habits in his first yr, Lee spent this previous summer time prioritizing the different aspect of the ground.
The Hornets had been suffering from the NBA’s worst half-court offense final season. Better gamers helped flip that round, however an augmented system that leveraged all the capturing, passing, intelligence, and talent on Charlotte’s roster was simply as very important. The upshot has been one among the extra transformational and entertaining developments in the complete league: an offense that has efficiently adopted the identical quick-twitch tendencies that nearly won the title final season.
“I will say, you know, watching the [Indiana] Pacers on their Finals run last year definitely contributed to a little bit of our thought process of how we can get a little bit more random,” Lee stated.
The most observable similarity could be present in all the small-small actions they run on any given play. Guards and wings are continuously setting ball screens for one another, injecting some upbeat chaos into their circulate. “We’re not always depending on our 5-man to have to come screen, come back up, and screen again if we need an after action. It just brings a little bit more variety to how we play.”
In addition to Indiana, Charlotte has additionally been influenced by the defending champions. Two years in the past, Oklahoma City unleashed an attack that was simultaneously innovative and necessary, stuffed with floor-inverting two-man actions that caught the remainder of the league off guard.
On-ball screens that don’t contain an enormous are more and more prevalent all through the NBA, however proper now no workforce makes use of them greater than Charlotte; per Sportradar, it ranks first in slip screens to a or a roll. There’s additionally no contact or redirect on 49.3 p.c of all the screens it units, which is the highest fee in the league. Lee steered into this tactic as soon as he realized how efficient and versatile his guards and wings really are. All of them can dribble, move, and shoot whereas garnering consideration with out the ball of their palms. These aren’t huge males, however they’re comfy studying a protection as they roll into the paint:
Charlotte’s system is a blender that forces a number of defenders to continuously talk by means of a collection of split-second choices. Just watch the clip above and picture being Jalen Green. The ball crosses half courtroom, and he instantly has to suppose his means by means of two screens earlier than he can take one breath. On any given possession, the Hornets will execute half a dozen seemingly random actions that occupy each inch of the ground. They’ll move and chase, run a stagger away, sprinkle in a rip display screen on the bottom, have somebody dash off a pin-down right into a dribble handoff, after which reverse the ball over to a wide-open shooter. It’s frenetic power, like a cue ball breaking the rack:
One of Lee’s objectives was for the Hornets to be extra expeditious earlier than performs even begin. The earlier they may start, the extra time they’d have on the shot clock to make a protection really feel dizzy, create mismatches, and maximize their expertise. “We did a ton of work on just quick inbounds [plays],” Lee informed me. “More pass-aheads, more pass-acrosses.”
Normally, the middle would take the ball out of bounds when Charlotte gave up a basket, so Lee labored on having the closest participant do it as a substitute. Interchangeability is nice!
Now, as soon as the Hornets circulate into their half-court the opposing protection is plunged into hell. It’s right here the place one among the most satisfying viewing experiences in all of sports activities transpires: watching one workforce fail to cease the different regardless of realizing precisely what it needs to do. This is the way it should really feel to protect my favourite Hornets play.
As three gamers mill alongside the baseline, one wing—normally Knueppel or Miller—comes up from the free throw line to set a choose for the ball handler. It appears so easy while you watch it develop, however the display screen’s angle and whether or not the setter chooses to make contact in any respect are two variables that flood the play with myriad choices. More typically than not, the display screen is flat, permitting the ball handler to learn the protection and resolve whether or not he needs to drive proper or left. From there, the screener (who simply so occurs to even be a knockdown shooter) will normally come out to the reverse wing. It’s a predictably unpredictable whirlwind that just about all the time generates a great look:
All this movement tends to confuse defenses. And they’re simply as susceptible at any time when Charlotte misses a shot because of Diabaté, a human gamma ray and nationwide sensation. According to Sportradar, the 24-year-old strikes towards the rim to grab an offensive rebound on 93 p.c of his alternatives to take action—good for the 99th percentile. “Everyone knows the energy and activity he plays with and how good he is at offensive rebounding,” Lee says about his beginning middle. “But then what about the fact of, like, how many kick-out 3s he creates because of those offensive rebounds?”
Sidebar: I do know I’m specializing in Charlotte’s offense proper now, however, reality be informed, its mind-blowing turnaround isn’t sufficient to drive profitable by itself. If the Hornets weren’t out of the blue considering getting stops, the staggering quantity of factors they’ll rating wouldn’t be sufficient to make me consider a deep playoff run is feasible. Diabaté ranks fifth in on/off level differential partially as a result of he is perhaps the most switchable huge in the complete league; it’s sort of superb that guards nonetheless take a look at him off the bounce:
It’s not simple to capably combine a mode of play that falls flat sans fixed motion, pace, and intention. But the Hornets have performed it in a brief time period by embracing a selfless mentality, trusting the additional move, and, critically, drilling a excessive share of the high quality appears they create for each other. It isn’t simply LaMelo, Knueppel, and Miller. Josh Green, Grant Williams, and Coby White are all real threats who can’t be left alone, and no different workforce’s 3-point share has rocketed up the charts like Charlotte’s this season:
The Hornets have additionally made dramatic strides in each taking and limiting photographs behind the arc. Last season, the Hornets attempted 1.6 fewer 3s per game than their opponent, a web differential that ranked twenty first in the league. This season, they’re launching 6.6 extra 3s, which trails only the Golden State Warriors.
Anointed as Charlotte’s best player by Miles Bridges again in November, Knueppel is a serious cause for that. As arguably the finest motion shooter in the NBA, he’s dramatically altered the franchise’s trajectory whereas including pages to Lee’s playbook. We’re speaking about the most effective rookie in league historical past and, with apologies to Cooper Flagg, the apparent alternative for Rookie of the Year. At 20 years outdated, Knueppel leads the complete freaking NBA in 3-pointers and ranks seventh in 3-point share. Among gamers who’ve appeared in at the least 50 video games, he’s fifteenth in estimated plus-minus. That is ridiculous. A strolling profitable play who makes life simpler for everybody he performs with, Knueppel not solely ranks first in off-ball gravity this season in response to BBall Index, however he’s presently sixth all time in that web site’s complete database, which stretches again to When he slips a display screen, finest consider it’s a five-alarm fireplace:
Then there’s Miller. Not even three full seasons into his profession, Charlotte’s second-leading scorer poses an actual risk with or with out the ball. He’s an excellent match on a workforce that likes to have him set screens, fly round screens, and dribble off screens. He isn’t an elite three-level scorer but, however you may see him changing into one very quickly. In his previous 25 video games, Miller is averaging 22.2 factors and making 52.7 p.c of his 2s, 40.7 p.c of his 3s, and 93.5 p.c of his free throws. He is aware of harness his 6-foot-7 body towards smaller defenders and might create area for himself in myriad methods that tend to make him appear to be the final luxurious:
Neither Miller nor Knueppel is the straw that stirs Charlotte’s drink, although. That’d be LaMelo. I’m not essentially suggesting he needs to be in the MVP dialog—he’s nonetheless not notably environment friendly and averages solely 27.6 minutes per recreation—however I’m not not keen to acknowledge his affect on a workforce that’s obliterated the league for 2 straight months. Only 4 gamers are creating extra factors per 100 possessions than Ball this season: Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Cade Cunningham; Charlotte generates 13.6 more points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor, and the solely participant above him is Jokic.
Pretty a lot each Hornet is extra environment friendly after they play with Ball. Knueppel’s true capturing share rises 10 share factors to a comical 70.3. Bridges’s is 7.8 share factors increased (at 59.8). Diabaté’s is 7.2 share factors increased (at 69.6). Green’s is 13.5 share factors increased (at 75.9). Williams’s is 12.2 share factors increased (at 68.8). Also impacted immensely: Miller’s shot eating regimen. The share of photographs he takes at the rim almost doubles with Ball on the courtroom, whereas his accuracy spikes by a whopping 29 share factors.
The scariest factor about these Hornets? They’re the third-youngest workforce in the league and nonetheless have a lot room for enchancment. Charlotte can stand to play even quicker than it does, and it has the third-worst turnover fee in the league since January 1. Some of those points could be chalked as much as oversharing—finally a great drawback for such a younger workforce to study from; selfishness is a mindset that’s simpler to encourage than to tone down. But lapses of focus assist clarify why this group is simply 10-17 in crunch time.
Will a few of that sloppy play stop them from following in Indiana’s footsteps? It’s a lofty comparability that, given the aesthetic resemblance and late-season success, is price making. But there are a couple of key variations, too. The 2024-25 Pacers already had playoff expertise and had been coming off a aggressive run to the Eastern Conference finals. They’d gained 50 video games that yr and entered the postseason as a 4-seed. Meanwhile, the Hornets haven’t gained a playoff recreation since … 2016. They haven’t gained a playoff collection since 2002.
Assuming Charlotte qualifies for the playoffs this it’ll most definitely be as a play-in workforce that has to sq. off towards the Pistons, Celtics, or Knicks in Round 1. In the occasion that occurs, pray for the Pistons, Celtics, or Knicks. The Hornets’ document is 33-33, however their web ranking for the complete season indicators a workforce that’s on pace to win 49.2 games. They’ve proved they’ll go punch for punch with anybody.
Like these Pacers, the Hornets have greater than sufficient capturing and function with a ton of area. Their offense creates indecision, unfolding at a velocity that may neutralize nearly any defensive recreation plan. This is one among the hardest groups in the league to arrange for.
Whether or not Charlotte can stand as much as the physicality and focus that’s required to win in the postseason is unknowable. Age and expertise matter. But none of what the Hornets have achieved up to now is a fluke. If they do win a playoff collection, don’t name it an upset. Their coach noticed it coming a mile away.
Michael Pina
Michael Pina is a senior workers author at The Ringer who covers the NBA.
