The Charlotte Hornets lost their fourth consecutive game on Saturday, and it definitely appears to be weighing on them.
Video went viral of a sideline confrontation between Hornets guard James Bouknight and head coach James Borrego during Charlotte’s game against the Miami Heat. At the start of the fourth quarter, Borrego went over to say something to Bouknight, whom he had just subbed out. Bouknight stood up to confront Borrego before he was pulled away by an assistant coach. The assistant then took Bouknight to the locker room, and Bouknight never returned to the bench.
Here is the video.
https://twitter.com/DougBransonLOH/status/1490145313100910592
The Heat won the game in a 104-86 blowout despite Charlotte leading the game at halftime. The loss dropped Charlotte to ninth in the East at 28-26. As for Bouknight, the team’s first-round pick this season, he has played just 10.0 minutes per game as a rookie. Bouknight’s playing time on Saturday was also limited to just a lone defensive possession at the end of the third quarter, which probably explains the timing of his incident with Borrego.
After the contest, Borrego addressed the incident.
“Obviously we were all a little frustrated, all of us, in the third quarter, early fourth and it got a little emotional there,” Borrego said, per Roderick Boone of the Charlotte Observer. “Beyond that I’ll leave it there.
“As I’ve said before he’s in a tough spot,” Borrego added about Bouknight. “He obviously wants to play. I get that. I understand that. Look, he’s a kid we believe in, we trust in, and we are going to find more minutes for him, more time. So I won’t get into the specifics. Just two competitors trying to help this team.”
The 21-year-old Bouknight was a highly-touted prospect in college at UConn but has not really gotten a chance to prove himself in the NBA yet. For their part, the Hornets are not playing good basketball right now either. Even owner Michael Jordan seems upset with them.
