Vinny Del Negro, the Clippers’ New Coach

Del Negro did not stay unemployed for very long, and is now the new bench boss on L.A.’s “other team”. From the Times: “The newest coach of the Clippers spoke about filling out his staff, summer league in Las Vegas next week, and, of course, free agency, giving new meaning to that old phrase of hitting the ground running. Never mind that his contract has yet to be finalized. That will be hammered out between his agent Lon Rosen and Clippers front-office executives Wednesday. An agreement in principle to coach the Clippers, which was confirmed by Rosen, was reached Tuesday. It came after a long day of meetings in a second series of interviews with the finalists, Del Negro, the former coach of the Chicago Bulls, and Dwane Casey, assistant coach of Dallas. The Clippers may introduce Del Negro in a news conference Wednesday but that plan is not set. The next day happens to be the day of the LeBron James decision, and the Clippers were one of six teams invited to make presentations to the free-agent superstar last week in Cleveland. ‘I have a lot of confidence in myself,’ Del Negro said in a telephone interview. ‘I just feel [General Manager] Neil Olshey and Andy [Roeser, the team president] did a great job working me through the process, and Mr. Sterling was very supportive. I just came in and told them the things I believe in, the way I feel the team needs to play. You have to be true to your beliefs and core values.”‘