It is a little difficult to tell what the Charlotte Hornets have in Charles Lee. In year one, things went horribly wrong. In my estimation, Lee is a solid coach who was dealt an awful hand. Not only were the Hornets a bad team, but every good player went down for a substantial period of time.
Few coaches would be able to even remotely survive losing LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, Mark Williams, and Tre Mann like that last season. Lee didn’t. What is the non-Hornets fan perspective of him, though? Apparently, it’s pretty similar to what I thought. One insider ranked all the NBA coaches, and Lee was ranked so much higher than expected.
Oct 9, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Charlotte Hornets Head Coach Charles Lee during a time out against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second quarter of a game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
The Hornets have struggled to find good coaching lately. The Steve Clifford era was solid, and then James Borrego was probably fired prematurely after getting the team to improve most seasons. The Kenny Atkinson debacle led to the return of an aging and ineffective Clifford before Charles Lee arrived.
How good is Lee? According to Bleacher Report insider Lee Escobedo, he’s the 17th-best coach in the NBA right now. That’s much higher than I expected him to be, and it outranks coaches like:
“In pressers, Charles Lee talks like a reformer. He’s injecting more pace and space into the Hornets’ attack, openly criticizing last season’s sluggish pace (Charlotte ranked 23rd in pace at 98.22 possessions per 48 minutes) and promising more movement, more spacing, and more read-and-react actions off screens and cuts,” Escobedo wrote.
The analyst praised Lee’s efforts with Brandon Miller, highlighting his emphasis on giving Miller freedom as a perimeter scorer and cutter, trusting his player to make the right reads without the ball in his hands. He also pointed out a moment when Miller did some on-floor coaching and echoed Lee’s strategies.
Escobedo went on, “He edges out more inexperienced coaches thanks to his early offensive identity and the chemistry he’s fostering between Miller and LaMelo Ball, but until he proves he can translate that fluid style into disciplined half-court production and making the playoffs in the weakest division, he remains mid-tier.”
If the Hornets can stay healthy, they have the talent to showcase what kind of coach Lee can be. Last year, the Hornets were competitive in so many games they had no business being competitive in, so it’ll be interesting to see what he can do with more talent in year two.
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