The Charlotte Bobcats have hired Los Angeles Lakers assistant Steve Clifford to become their new coach.

Two people familiar with the situation said on Monday that Clifford had agreed to a three-year contact. They spoke to Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not been made public.

Clifford replaces Mike Dunlap, who was fired after going 21-61 in his only season as coach.

Clifford has worked as an assistant in New York, Houston, Orlando and Los Angeles, but has never been a head coach at the NBA level. He has worked under both Jeff and Stan Van Gundy.

He becomes the sixth coach of the Bobcats since 2006-07.

The Bobcats made the move to hire Clifford on Monday, one day before he was slated for a second interview with the Milwaukee Bucks for their coaching vacancy.

Clifford came to Los Angeles with Dwight Howard from the Magic and was retained for the 2013-14 season as an assistant coach. However, the Lakers granted him permission to interview with other teams.

Before to joining the Lakers, Clifford spent five seasons with Orlando, working alongside Stan Van Gundy. During that five-year span, the Magic were 259-135 (.657) and reached the NBA Finals in 2009.

Clifford also spent four seasons as an assistant with the Rockets under Jeff Van Gundy and three with the Knicks.

Jeff Van Gundy, now an NBA broadcaster, said he's known Clifford since they coached together at the Jim Boeheim camp in 1985 in Syracuse, NY, and called him "a person with impeccable integrity".

Associated Press

(China Daily 05/29/2013 page22)