Vinny Del Negro

Vinny Del Negro

No. 8, 15
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	August 9, 1966 (1966-08-09)
Place of birth	Springfield, Massachusetts
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	189 lb (86 kg)
Career information
College	North Carolina State (1984–1988)
NBA Draft	1988 / Round: 2 / Pick: 29th overall
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Pro career	1988–2002
Career history
As player:
1988–1990	Sacramento Kings
1990–1992	Benetton Treviso (Italy)
1992–1998	San Antonio Spurs
1999	Teamsystem Bologna (Italy)
1999–2000	Milwaukee Bucks
2000–2001	Golden State Warriors
2001	Phoenix Suns
As coach:
2008–2010	Chicago Bulls
2010–present	Los Angeles Clippers
Career NBA statistics
Points	7,038 (9.1 ppg)
Rebounds	1,810 (2.3 rpg)
Assists	2,484 (3.2 apg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Vincent Joseph "Vinny" Del Negro (born August 9, 1966) is a retired American basketball player. He is the current head coach of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, and was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 2008 until 2010.

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 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.

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. 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. In 2007, the Suns promoted him to the position of assistant general manager.

On June 9, 2008, multiple media reports indicated Del Negro had agreed to become the new head coach of the Chicago Bulls. 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 Chicago Bulls announced Del Negro's dismissal on May 4, 2010. On July 6, 2010, multiple league sources confirmed that Del Negro would become the next head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers. 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.

Personal

Del Negro is of Italian ancestry. His father, Vince, played basketball at the University of Kentucky under legendary coach Adolph Rupp.

Coaching record

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win-loss  %
Post season	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
CHI	2008–09	82	41	41	.500	2nd in Central	7	3	4	.429	Lost in First Round
CHI	2009–10	82	41	41	.500	3rd in Central	5	1	4	.200	Lost in First Round
LAC	2010–11	82	32	50	.390	4th in Pacific	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
Career		246	114	132	.463		12	4	8	.333

External links

• NBA.com profile
• Stats at basketballreference.com