Former Hornets head coach James Borrego will join the Pelicans as associate head coach under Willie Green, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Borrego and Green have worked together before, notes Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link). Borrego was an assistant in New Orleans when Green played there in 2010/11, and he served as an assistant in Orlando during Green’s final season as an NBA player in 2014/15.
The 45-year-old Borrego was reportedly one of the leading contenders for the Rockets’ head coaching vacancy and was among the candidates the Bucks considered to replace Mike Budenholzer. He drew a lot of interest as an assistant coach as well, with Houston, Milwaukee, Brooklyn and Dallas among the teams that reportedly wanted him to join their staffs.
The Pelicans also considered Kevin Ollie, one of the finalists for the Pistons’ head coaching job, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Ollie is reportedly taking an assistant role on the Nets’ staff.
Jarron Collins, another top candidate for the Detroit vacancy, will also return to Green’s staff for next season, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.
Borrego spent four years as head coach in Charlotte before being fired in 2022. He compiled a 138-163 record with the Hornets and took the team to two play-in appearances. He also went 10-20 as interim coach of the Magic in 2015.
lol he knows Green will be out of there by midseason
James Borrego deserves better. MJ fired him after he improved the teams record two years in a row. They had a winning record in his last season and made the play-in. With the new coach that MJ hired, the Hornets went 27-55. Well done MJ. Also nice job on letting Caleb Martin walk for free. Pat Riley saw his talent and give him a contract. Signing Goron Hayward to a $120M contract??? Well done MJ. Some of MJ’s lottery picks: Malik Monk , Frank Kaminsky, Noah Vonleh, Cody Zeller and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was second overall in 2012. Passed on Bradley Beal and Lillard to draft MKG. Passed on CJ McCollum, Giannis, Zack Lavine, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell. Draft Shai Gilgeous-Alexander & trade him for Miles Bridges. Well done Michael Jordan.
But is he a Nutritional Chef ……. ??
What is an associated head coach?
First coach in line to replace the actual head coach if they get ill?
It’s basically just the top assistant on a coaching staff, with the title to officially reflect that status.