Hornets to interview notable female coach for head coach job

After Steve Clifford announced he was stepping down as head coach of the Hornets, Charlotte began contacting candidates for his old job. One of them is Harding, who is the only female coach of a men's professional basketball team in America, as the leader of the Stockton Kings.

Her debut season was a huge success. The Sacramento Kings' G League affiliate had the league's best record at 24-10, finishing the season with the No. 4 offense and the No. 1 defense. 

Along the way, Harding helped develop Keon Ellis, who went from two-way player to starting guard for the parent club, and Colby Jones, who is starting to play significant minute for Sacramento.

They lost in the single-game Western Conference Finals, but Harding was voted Coach of the Year, the first women to win the award. She joins some very prestigious NBA coaches among the list of COY winners, including 76ers coach Nick Nurse, who won a title with the Toronto Raptors, Hawks coach Quin Snyder and Chris Finch, who has led the first-place Minnesota Timberwolves to 54 wins and counting this season.

Harding follows in the footsteps of Hall of Famer Becky Hammon, who worked as a San Antonio Spurs assistant and interviewed for jobs as an NBA general manager and head coach before taking over the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, where she won titles in her first two seasons. There are currently four female assistant coaches working in the NBA, but Harding is the only G League head coach.

Harding was the No. 1 pick in the 2007 WNBA draft and played in the league for nine years. She first became a development coach with the 76ers after her pro career ended, and she joined the Kings in the same role in 2019.

Could she be hired? Harding will be competing with a number of NBA assistants, but her work with Stockton proves she can develop players and run an NBA-style offense and defense. 

A team like the Hornets would have nothing to lose taking a chance on Harding, with no track record of success but a number of promising young players — and new owners.

That might be a blessing and a curse. Harding could get an unprecedented, historic opportunity to lead an NBA team. But it would be with an NBA team that's never finished higher than sixth since joining the NBA in 2004, with big questions about its future.

Clearly, NBA teams are noticing Harding's success. It remains to see if any will have the guts to give her a head coaching job.