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Vinny Del Negro

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Vinny Del Negro
Del Negro in 2011
Personal information
Born (1966-08-09) August 9, 1966 (age 58)
Springfield, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican / Italian
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight189 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school
CollegeNC State (1984–1988)
NBA draft1988: 2nd round, 29th overall pick
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Playing career1988–2001
PositionGuard
Number15, 8
Coaching career2008–2013
Career history
As player:
1988–1990Sacramento Kings
1990–1992Benetton Treviso
1992–1998San Antonio Spurs
1999Teamsystem Bologna
1999–2000Milwaukee Bucks
2000–2001Golden State Warriors
2001Phoenix Suns
As coach:
2008–2010Chicago Bulls
2010–2013Los Angeles Clippers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points7,038 (9.1 ppg)
Rebounds1,810 (2.3 rpg)
Assists2,484 (3.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Vincent Joseph Del Negro (born August 9, 1966) is an American retired basketball player. He was the head coach of the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls from 2008 to 2010, and the Los Angeles Clippers from 2010 to 2013. Del Negro is currently an analyst with NBA TV.

Early life

Del Negro was born on August 9, 1966, in Springfield, Massachusetts. His father, Vince, was a two-time junior college All-American, and taught his son to play basketball at a young age. Vinny made the varsity basketball team during his freshman year at Cathedral High School. He caught the attention of Dennis Kinne, the basketball coach at Suffield Academy, who persuaded him to attend Suffield Academy so that he could play basketball for them. Vinny led Suffield Academy to two New England championships. He scored 1,116 points, becoming Suffield Academy's all-time leading scorer.[1]

Playing career

Del Negro played for Jim Valvano at North Carolina State University. As a senior, he was selected to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference team after averaging 15.9 points, 3.6 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. In his junior season, Del Negro led the Wolfpack to the 1987 ACC Tournament championship and was named tournament MVP.

Del Negro was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 29th pick in the 1988 NBA draft.[2] He would play two seasons there before leaving for Italy and Benetton Treviso for another two years (he won the Italian championship in 1992 with over 25 points per game).

Upon his return to the NBA, Del Negro played for the San Antonio Spurs for the next six years. In early 1999 he played four games in Italy for Teamsystem Bologna, before signing with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he played in the 1998–99 and 1999–2000 seasons. Del Negro was traded to the Golden State Warriors in a three-team deal that also involved the Cleveland Cavaliers in June 2000. In January 2001 he was traded to the Phoenix Suns, and was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in a three-team deal with the Orlando Magic in November, although he would never play for them, and subsequently retired.

Del Negro's career statistics included averaging 9.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game, while shooting 47.5% from the field and 84.0% from the free-throw line.

Coaching career

Del Negro worked as a radio commentator for the Phoenix Suns before being promoted to director of player personnel for the Suns in 2006.[3] In 2007, the Suns promoted him to the position of assistant general manager.[4]

On June 9, 2008, multiple media reports indicated Del Negro had agreed to become the new head coach of the Chicago Bulls.[5] He became the favorite for the job after former Bulls' coach Doug Collins withdrew his name from consideration.

Two days later, Del Negro was officially introduced as the new head coach of the Bulls, replacing Jim Boylan and becoming the 17th head coach in Bulls' history.

Del Negro finished his first season as head coach of the Chicago Bulls with a 41–41 record, sufficient for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls played a seven-game series against the Boston Celtics, featuring four overtime games with a total of a record seven overtime periods, before losing.

Del Negro finished his second season as head coach of the Chicago Bulls with a 41–41 record, sufficient for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls lost the best of seven series in five games against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Bulls announced Del Negro's dismissal on May 4, 2010.[6]

On July 6, 2010, multiple league sources confirmed that Del Negro would become the next head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers.[7] At the end of Del Negro's first season with the Clippers, the Clippers finished with a record of 32–50, missing the playoffs. Despite missing the playoffs, the Clippers did have the NBA Rookie of the Year, Blake Griffin.[8] Del Negro and Clippers followed up this mediocre season by acquiring All-Star point guard Chris Paul and finishing fifth in the Western Conference with a record of 40–26, one game shy of the division leading Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers advanced to the second round of the playoffs for only the second time since they moved to Los Angeles in 1984.[9]

Del Negro coaching the Clippers in 2011

A year later, Del Negro led the Clippers to the best season in the franchise's 43-year history. The Clippers notched a franchise-record 17-game winning streak, including a perfect 16–0 mark in December.[10] They won a franchise-record 56 games, their first 50-win season ever, as well as their first Pacific Division title.[9][11] The title was clinched after defeating the Lakers on April 7, which also completed a season sweep of their crosstown rivals, 4–0. The franchise had not swept the Lakers since 1974–75, when the Clippers were the Buffalo Braves.[12] It was also the first time in 20 years since 1992–93 that the Clippers won the season series against the Lakers.[13] However, the Clippers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Memphis Grizzlies, 4–2, after winning the first two games.[9]

On May 21, 2013, it was announced that the Clippers would not renew Del Negro's contract after its expiration at the end of June.[14] At times during the season, he was criticized for his player rotations. Del Negro had a 128–102 regular-season record in three seasons with the club, and his .557 winning percentage was the highest in club history. He was only the second coach to leave the Clippers with a winning record.[a] However, much of the club's success was credited to Paul and Griffin.[9] According to Yahoo! Sports and CBSSports.com, Paul, who was scheduled to become a free agent in the offseason, did not support Del Negro's return. Del Negro felt that Paul had "a lot of say-so" in the team's decisions, and Clippers owner Donald Sterling said he needed to be supportive of the team's star players.[15][16][17] Paul was upset that he was being blamed, and the Clippers later denied any player involvement in the coaching decision.[18]

Personal life

Del Negro is of Italian ancestry.[19] His father, Vince, played basketball at the University of Kentucky under legendary coach Adolph Rupp.[20] Del Negro won the 2021 American Century Championship.[21]

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Chicago 2008–09 82 41 41 .500 2nd in Central 7 3 4 .429 Lost in First Round
Chicago 2009–10 82 41 41 .500 3rd in Central 5 1 4 .200 Lost in First Round
L.A. Clippers 2010–11 82 32 50 .390 4th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
L.A. Clippers 2011–12 66 40 26 .606 2nd in Pacific 11 4 7 .364 Lost in Conference Semifinals
L.A. Clippers 2012–13 82 56 26 .683 1st in Pacific 6 2 4 .333 Lost in First Round
Career 394 210 184 .533   29 10 19 .345  

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Larry Brown was the first in 1993.[9]

References

  1. ^ "The Skinny on Vinny". NBA.com. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  2. ^ "1988 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  3. ^ ESPN - NBA Basketball transactions
  4. ^ "Suns promote Del Negro to assistant GM". Yahoo! Sports. August 28, 2007. Retrieved September 4, 2007.
  5. ^ "Bulls hire Del Negro as new head coach". Chicago Tribune. June 9, 2008. Retrieved June 9, 2008.
  6. ^ Del Negro out as Bulls coach Archived May 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, NBA.com
  7. ^ "Clippers to hire Del Negro". Marc J. Spears. Yahoo! Sports.
  8. ^ "ESPN.com".
  9. ^ a b c d e Shelburne, Ramona (May 21, 2013). "Del Negro out as Clippers coach". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Retrieved May 21, 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ Turner, Broderick (May 21, 2013). "Vinny Del Negro says job loss 'hard to take' but thanks Clippers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  11. ^ "Clippers down Suns, reach 50-win plateau for first time". FOX News. Sports Network. April 4, 2013. Retrieved May 21, 2013.
  12. ^ "Clippers rout Lakers to clinch first division title in franchise history". ESPN.com. Associated Press. April 7, 2013. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013.
  13. ^ Bresnahan, Mike (February 14, 2013). "Clippers dominate Lakers, 125–101, to win season series". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  14. ^ Turner, Broderick (May 21, 2013). "Clippers parting ways with coach Vinny Del Negro". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013.
  15. ^ Golliver, Ben (June 1, 2013). "Report: Chris Paul 'angry' over Clippers' portrayal of Vinny Del Negro's departure". SI.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013.
  16. ^ Harper, Zach (May 30, 2013). "Vinny Del Negro intimates Chris Paul was behind his departure". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013.
  17. ^ Simers, T. J. (May 21, 2013). "Do Chris Paul, Blake Griffin know best who should coach Clippers?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013.
  18. ^ Turner, Broderick (May 31, 2013). "Clippers: Chris Paul not to blame for dismissal of Vinny Del Negro". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 1, 2013.
  19. ^ "Del Negro: "I'm Italian, I Like to Argue"". NBC Chicago. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  20. ^ "UK Career Statistics for Vincent Del Negro". www.bigbluehistory.net. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  21. ^ July 11, Associated Press; PM, 2021 at 7:10. "Vinny Del Negro beats John Smoltz in playoff to win American Century Championship. While giving his victory speech, Del Negro revealed that his father passed away on 7/7/2021". Golf Channel. Retrieved July 12, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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