San Francisco, California - Kenny Atkinson pulled a major U-turn on the Charlotte Hornets as he informed them he is no longer accepting the head coach position, choosing instead to remain an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, ESPN reported on Saturday.

Just last week, it had been reported that Atkinson and the Hornets had agreed in principle to a four-year contract, but the deal was never signed.

After further talks with Charlotte, Atkinson chose to stay with the freshly-crowned NBA champions, becoming Steve Kerr's top assistant after Mike Brown left to become the head coach of the Sacramento Kings.

Atkinson compiled a 118-190 record leading the Brooklyn Nets from 2016-20 before he took assistant jobs in consecutive years with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Warriors.

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The Hornets fired James Borrego in April following a 43-win season with two years remaining on his contract. He went 138-163 during his four seasons as head coach, and Charlotte were routed in the play-in tournament in each of the last two.

Atkinson was chosen to replace Borrego after a seven-week search. The other candidates from that process were longtime NBA coach Mike D'Antoni and former Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts, according to ESPN. Those names might now resurface as the Hornets restart the search.