The Charlotte Hornets are reportedly interviewing former WNBA player and current G League coach Lindsey Harding for their head coaching job. The Hornets were granted permission to speak with her on Monday, according to ESPN.
Harding is the head coach of the Stockton Kings, the Sacramento Kings‘ G League affiliate. This season, she became the first Black woman to lead a G League team when she was given the role. She then became the first woman to be named the G League Coach of the Year. The Kings earned a No. 1 seed in the playoffs and made it to the Western Conference Finals. They achieved this success even after the team cut center Chance Comanche after he was arrested for murder in December.
Before being named the head coach of Stockton, Harding had been an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings since 2019, including last season where they ended the NBA’s longest playoff drought. The year prior to joining the Kings, she was a personnel scout and player development coach for the Philadelphia 76ers.
As a player, Harding was the No. 1 overall pick to the Phoenix Mercury in the 2007 WNBA draft after starring at Duke. She was the National Player of the Year her senior season when she averaged 13.6 points, 4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game for the Blue Devils. She was traded on draft night to the Minnesota Lynx. She spent a decade in the league, also spending time with the Washington Mystics, Atlanta Dream — where she was in the 2011 WNBA Finals — and Los Angeles Sparks. She was waived by the Sparks ahead of the 2015 season and then spent 2016 with the New York Liberty. She returned to the Mercury before retiring.
On Wednesday, Hornets head coach Steve Clifford said that he will step down from his role and join the front office when his contract expires at the end of this season. Charlotte is 19-59 and 13th in the Eastern Conference standings. He was hired in 2022 for his second stint with the team. He was previously the head coach from 2013 to 2018 and took the Hornets to the playoffs twice. They have not been back to the postseason since 2016.
If Harding is hired, she would be the first woman head coach in NBA history. Becky Hammon was an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs from 2014 to 2022 when she left to become the head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces. She became the first woman to serve as a head coach in an NBA game when Gregg Popovich was ejected during a 2020 game. She won the 2015 Summer League championship at the helm of the Spurs. Before she got the job with the Aces, the Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers and Orlando Magic interviewed her for their head coaching jobs but ultimately decided on other candidates.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Charlotte Hornets to interview Lindsey Harding for head coach opening
