Los Angeles Clippers Fire Vinny Del Negro
By Josh Hill
The Los Angeles Clippers have finally done what many long suspected they’d do. After losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs for two straight years, the team has announced that head coach Vinny Del Negro has been fired, per a report from Adrian Wojnarowski and Yahoo! Sports.
The Clippers have fired Vinny Del Negro, source tells Y!
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 21, 2013
Del Negro took over the Clippers back in 2011 after being fired by the Chicago Bulls for essentially the same reasons he was fired in Los Angeles. Despite talented rosters in both Chicago and Los Angeles, Del Negro has failed to pull it all together and put a winning product on the hardwood even though his teams routinely make it to the postseason.
Talks of letting Del Negro go have been floating around even before the Clippers lost their playoff series to the Memphis Grizzlies. Stan Van Gundy is a name that has been attached to the Clippers for some time now and it’s no secret that he’ll be the guy Los Angeles makes a hard move to get this offseason.
With the firing of Del Negro, the Clippers are now the third high profile team to be looking for a new head coach as both the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets are also in the hunt for a top coaching candidate to lead their team into the future. Los Angeles has the draw to pull in a big name coach and they’ll need one to try and erase the lost seasons they’ve had under Del Negro.