With the Charlotte Hornets making such a drastic turnaround in 2026, it raises questions as to why Charles Lee isn’t getting as much love as he should when it comes to Coach of the Year. Whether he wins the award or not is one thing, but Lee at least deserves to be a finalist.

Charlotte's Turnaround

The Hornets from October 21 to December 31 were 11-22 on the season, the 24th-best record in the NBA. Since January 1, 2026, the Hornets are 23-11, the third-best record in the NBA over that span.

Charles Lee has instilled a winning culture in Charlotte after coming over from Boston after their 2024 championship season, which was one of two championship staffs Lee was part of. (He was also part of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2021 championship staff.)

Lee, knowing what it takes to win, just needed the right pieces, and while it won’t get much consideration in his coach of the year argument, drafting Kon Knueppel was the first step toward the leap the Hornets eventually made. For any NBA fan that’s living under a rock, Kon Knueppel is leading the NBA in threes made this season and is the odds-on favorite for Rookie of the Year, even over his former Duke roommate Cooper Flagg.

The Hornets are currently 34-33 on the season, which isn’t a phenomenal record but is extremely impressive for a team that started 4-14 and was over 10 games under .500 at the end of 2025.

The Hornets have improved everywhere, but their defense has been the most shocking development; they have the No. 6 defensive rating since January first.

Charles Lee’s Case

Lee’s case isn’t based on the overall record of the Hornets but the coach of the year award isnt always just given to the coach on the best No. 1 seed in the league, a coaches case can be made relative to preseason expectations, which is where Charles Lee’s case comes in. the Hornets were projected to win under 30 games this season, they’ve already won 34 games and still have 15 left in a row.

Coaches have won the award while winning fewer than 50 games, the latest example being Tom Thibodeau, who won it with the Knicks, who won 41 games. Another recent example is Mike Brown, who won the award with 48 wins with the Sacramento Kings.

If Charlotte reaches the 40-43 win mark, not only will they have a ton of momentum going into the playoffs, but Coach Lee will have a real case.

Jason Kidd’s Endorsement

It’s not just Hornets fans who have this take; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd was asked about Charles Lee and how well he’s done with this Hornets group, and Kidd said, “he’s under the radar. I think he should be the coach of the year for what he’s done so far with this young team.”

Ultimately, will Charles Lee win the award? Probably not; it’s probably going to be Detroit’s J.B. Bickerstaff or San Antonio’s Mitch Johnson. That being said, Charles Lee being a finalist would be much deserved.