ORLANDO – A coaching lifer who actually loves the daily grind of the NBA’s marathon-like season, Steve Clifford’s focus was so much into the improvement of his Orlando Magic team that he didn’t shift his attention to the next opponent until Thursday morning.
The fact that the foe dead ahead is the Charlotte Hornets – Clifford’s employer the previous five years – it might come as a surprise to some, but the coach was sticking to his mantra of daily improvement and correcting errors late Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.
Undoubtedly, seeing some of the Hornets’ players that he worked with for years will stir emotions on Friday night, Clifford said.