CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 23 -- The Charlotte Hornets reportedly will hire San Antonio Spurs assistant Dave Cowens as their new head coach next week. Cowens, a Hall of Fame center with the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks, confirmed he has been offered the job in Friday's edition of the Charlotte Observer.
'The team's got a lot of promise, they've got some great players here,' said Cowens. 'The organization's wonderful, the facilities are out of sight. A lot of coaches don't get a chance to start with a team that has a chance to win, but I'm not hired yet.' A Hornets' spokesman said no announcement is planned until next week at the earliest. The 47-year-old Cowens would replace Allan Bristow, who was fired April 23 after coaching for five seasons in Charlotte. The Hornets were a disappointing 41-41, one game out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. Charlotte has advanced to the post-season twice in the last four years. Cowens was a player-coach with the Celtics in 1978-79, guiding the team to a 27-41 record. He went 20-28 with the Bay State Bombardiers of the Continental Basketball Association in 1984-85 and has been a Spurs' assistant for two years. Cowens was the NBA's 1971 co-Rookie of the Year with Portland's Geoff Petrie and was named most valuable player in 1972-73 when he averaged 20.5 points and 16.2 rebounds per game. The Celtics won two championships during his 10-year stint with the team. Cowens came out of retirement in 1982 and finished his career with the Bucks in 1982-83. The six-time all-star was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.
