Vinny Del Negro is under contract for one more season, but it is a team option.
And mercurial owner Donald J. Sterling has a checkered history when it comes to making commitments to coaches — and even when it comes to making good on his prior commitments, such as when Bill Fitch had to take him to court to get the remainder of the money that Sterling owed him.
In this interview with CineSport’s Noah Coslov, SheridanHoops.com editor-in-chief Chris Sheridan says Del Negro coached the game of his life Sunday in Game 7 of the Clippers’ series against the Memphis Grizzlies, using his veteran bigs (Kenyon Martin and Reggie Evans) in the fourth quarter to take the Grizzlies out of their low-post oriented game, and going with the hot hand (Eric Bledsoe, Nick Young) even when it meant keeping his All-Stars on the bench for long stretches of the fourth quarter.
Del Negro will have his hands full in the second round with his Clippers about to go up against the San Antonio Spurs, who are on a 14-game winning streak and haven’t lost a ballgame in more than a month.
If they get swept, as some are predicting, will that determine Del Negro’s long-term fate?
If so, that is just wrong.
But with Sterling, you never know.
Also in this interview, Sheridan discusses his vote for Chris Paul over LeBron James as the NBA’s Most Valuable Player, and who he would want taking the last shot in a close game — Kobe Bryant or Kevin Durant?