Metta World Peace’s 4-word message for Hornets amid coaching search

On Sunday afternoon, the Charlotte Hornets’ disastrous 2023-24 season came to a blissful end–in what was head coach Steve Clifford’s final game–with a surprising road win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who many believed to be tanking the game in an effort to secure themselves a more favorable playoffs matchup with the Orlando Magic. Clifford had announced a few weeks ago that he and the Hornets would be parting ways at season’s end, and with Charlotte long since eliminated from playoff contention in the vaunted Eastern Conference postseason picture, the focus for the Hornets down the stretch shifted from trying to rack up wins to instead trying to develop the young talent on the team as much as possible.

An important decision for the Hornets this offseason revolves around what they will choose to do with the head coaching vacancy they will now have on their hands in Clifford’s absence. One person who is apparently throwing his hat into the ring is none other than former Los Angeles Lakers 2010 NBA champion Metta World Peace, then known as Ron Artest, who recently took to his account on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter, to offer up his services for the Hornets.

“Head Coach Metta ready,” wrote World Peace, quote tweeting a post from NBA insider Ben Stinar that listed the Hornets’ long list of failures since their last playoff appearance eight years ago, in which Dwyane Wade unceremoniously dropped them off in the first round in 2016.

A disappointing season in Charlotte

Coming into the year, many pundits had hoped that this would be the year the Hornets finally got over the hump and started figuring some things out as it pertains to, well, winning basketball games at the NBA level. For a time, it looked like point guard LaMelo Ball was turning into a legitimate All-Star candidate, stuffing the stat sheet on a nightly basis and showing off the elite skill that allowed him to be a high lottery pick a few years ago.

However, Ball–as has been the case in multiple seasons now–was unable to stay healthy for long stretches at a time, and the Hornets’ overall lack of talent on their roster sent them catapulting down the Eastern Conference standings once again. At the trade deadline, the Hornets made the move to part ways with some of the few veterans on their roster, including sending point guard Terry Rozier to the Miami Heat as well as forward PJ Washington to the Dallas Mavericks, both of whom have made considerable impacts on their new squads.

The lone bright spot for the Hornets this season was the emergence of rookie Brandon Miller, who is likely to finish third in the upcoming Rookie of the Year vote behind only Chet Holmgren and of course presumptive winner Victor Wembanyama. Miller showed flashes of the elite skillset that generated comparisons to Paul George at times this year, and his presence in the organization is one of the few beacons of hope for a franchise otherwise synonymous with NBA ineptitude.