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Clippers Heave Head Coach Vinny Del Negro
Photo by Paul!!! via Flickr
It has come to pass. The Clippers will not be renewing head coach Vinny Del Negro's contract when it expires on June 30, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
The writing was on the wall when the Clippers lost four consecutive games to the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, a huge disappointment to a team that made it to the second round a season ago.
A lot of people will talk about the raw deal Del Negro is getting. After all, he joined Larry Brown as the only head coaches in the franchise to depart with a winning record. Del Negro also led the team to a franchise-high 56 wins, the only 50-win season for the franchise. He also led the Clippers to a franchise-record 17-game winning streak.
But what everyone knows is that you make your name in the playoffs, not the regular season.
And the talk was that free agent to be Chris Paul as well as other players on the team were not big fans of Del Negro.
The list of potential replacements is long and includes Grizzlies head coach Lionel Hollins, Byron Scott, Brian Shaw, Golden State assistant Mike Malone, Stan Van Gundy, Jeff Van Gundy, et al. There, of course, is another elephant in the room, but Phil Jackson is a long shot, especially after the way owner Donald T. Sterling forced Jackson's mentor Bill Fitch to sue for the remaining money on his contract.
Speaking of, when's the last time the question of an outgoing head coach's compensation has not been an issue with the Clippers?
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It looks like the Lakers are not the only team to have some drama this offseason.
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