National Basketball Association

Report: Hornets interview Fratello

Published May. 5, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Mike Fratello interviewed with the New Orleans Hornets about the club's head coaching vacancy on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the meeting.

Hornets executives met with Fratello in Cleveland, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the club has not officially announced interviewing Fratello.

Fratello has coached the equivalent of about 15 seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Memphis Grizzlies. His last coaching stint was in Memphis from 2004-06.

He is the third coaching candidate interviewed so far.

On Tuesday, Hornets executives were in Texas interviewing former Dallas coach Avery Johnson and current Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey.

Fratello, now a TV analyst for TNT, has a career regular season record of 666-542 as an NBA head coach, and his teams were 20-42 in the playoffs.

The Hornets are reportedly interested in speaking with several other candidates. That list includes former head coaches Doug Collins and Jeff Van Gundy, as well as Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau, Portland assistant Monty Williams, San Antonio assistant Mike Budenholzer and Utah assistant Ty Corbin.

Whoever gets the job will take over a club that went 37-45 and missed the playoffs last season. However, the Hornets have two stars in guard Chris Paul and power forward David West, as well as emerging young players in guards Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, not to mention an upcoming lottery pick in the NBA draft.

Meanwhile, minority owner Gary Chouest's purchase of the club from founder George Shinn is expected to provide an infusion of spending power to the front office as the coaching search continues and free agency approaches.