Vinny Del Negro and John Paxson in 2008. (Tribune file)
By K.C. Johnson
Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has hired independent lawyers to investigate a physical altercation between executive vice president of basketball operations John Paxson and coach Vinny Del Negro, sources confirmed.
The incident took place following the March 30 home loss to the Suns and centered on Del Negro exceeding for the second time a medically-imposed minutes limit on Joakim Noah, who has battled plantar fasciitis.
Yahoo! Sports first reported the story.
According to sources, Paxson came to the doorway of Del Negro's office
after Del Negro played Noah 27 minutes, 5 seconds, 2:05 more than
instructed. Del Negro also exceeded Noah's minutes limit during a Feb.
26 home overtime victory over the Trail Blazers, and Noah missed the
next 10 games.
According to sources, an angry Paxson began to
verbally confront Del Negro, which prompted Del Negro to rise from his
chair and walk towards Paxson. At this point, sources said, Paxson
grabbed Del Negro by his tie and shoved him.
Several players
said they heard the verbal altercation and later learned details of the
physical aspect. Three players, speaking on the condition of anonymity,
said the team vowed not to let the incident distract the team.
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Vinnie has done a pretty good job. He's developed the younger players, Noah, Gibson, Rose, etc. Has made the playoffs & kept us in the hunt this year with virtually no consistent outside shooting. If, I had my choice, I'd keep Vinnie (I'd much rather have Vinnie,than Jeff Van Gundy)& get rid of Pax.
Jerry Reinsdorf needs to put the SOX GM Ken Williams as the Bulls GM because he's a good aggressive Person. i bet he'll get a good Free Agent!!
The only reason the Bulls win any games is because Derrick Rose is one of the best players in the NBA.
NOT BECAUSE of VINNY DEL DUMMY NEGRO!
First, there are a lot of issues here when looking at the Bulls and their management. We are on the verge of getting over the top as far as elite teams in the NBA next year, with our cap space and depending on which free agents the Bulls can sign.
The story of the year has been Vinny is gone after the season. The Bulls need an experienced coach to lure a top-level free agent. I do not like Vinny as a coach but have to commend him for doing a wonderful job with the roster he has. Possibly, two playoff appearance in his first two years. That is not too shabby with the current roster the Bulls have. You look at player development. Rose, Noah, and Gibson, have all shown marked improvement and that is on Vinny and the current coaching staff.
The next issue is Paxson. He has built this roster and if the story about him putting his hands on Vinny is true. I have to put myself in an unemployed coach's mind. In no way am I signing with this organization with Paxson at the helm. If I am going to be questioned over my coaching decisions and then has to worry about being assaulted if he does not like them. With this story breaking, there is no coach out there that is going to sign unless Paxson is gone. This is beside the fact that they are showing their coach no respect for getting to the playoffs possibly in his first two years. Free agents and free agents coaches are going to stay away.
Ladies and gentleman.... This is your Chicago Bulls....... Let’s get ready to Rummmmmmmmmmmbleeeeeeee....... UFC card Vinny V. Pax
Paxson should be fired immediatly if this is true, hes lucky he wasnt charged with battery,also hes a lousy Gm.
Ups...I mean Miami.............I have to many drinks tonight!
Apprently all you folks screaming for DelNegro's head and saying the Bulls need a scoring guard seem to have forgotten they had one last year: Ben Gordon. They lost 20 points a game when he left.
But that's Vinny's fault too, I guess....
Have some gonads, K.C. That was your story. Stick your neck out for no one. Now the Yahoo yahoo gets to take credit.
Please can you stop the racism?
"Del Negro"? There is no need for name calling. That is racist. I am boycotting whatever "news" organization this is.
Great! Now Reinsdorf HAS to clean house. Good riddance, Paxson.
Despite Vinny's lackluster in game roster decisions, I will say that they will have to playoff runs in his two years as a first time coach. Not bad, but I do believe they need a proven coach to take this team further. As for Paxson, loved him as a player, curse him as a GM. First move, spent 12 million on way past his prime Scottie Pippen and played a total of five games. Anyone see what Skiles is doing now in Milwaukee? Pax didn't like him neither. And now the fight... Time to go.
ACTION PAXSON!!
Look at Paxson mean-muggin on that photo! Better than Hopkins v Jones!
I barely feel like writing this because some of you people are idiots.
On firing Vinny:Like someone else just said.Who the hell would win 50 games with this roster?Vinny isn't the best but he has done a hell of a job in Chicago and you people want him out?This teams record should be nowhere near what it was last year with all the injuries and losing two key players.No his in game management isn't good neither is his substitution pattern so I'm not say Byron Scott or whoever wouldn't do better because their better coaches,but give Vinny some credit for doing what he has done with this roster.And another thing,be careful what you ask for,because if Vinny gets hired elsewhere and it turns out that he really is a good coach then you all will be the first to call out management for firing him!You all seem to forget that this is his second year EVER coaching at ANY level is this is the highest level there is,THE NBA.
On firing Paxson:If that happens you all better hope that they have someone waiting in the wing who has managed a team to a title.And if you know any GMs that are available please let me know..............I'll wait..............
On the team sucking:Easy.Look at the bench.The starting five is already questionable.Lets see,You have the really good players Rose & Noah,you have the solid players Hinrich,Deng,Gibson,then you have the serviceable players Miller and maybe Warrick.Everyone else (Murrey(Bebop)andPargo(Rocksteady)) sucks!
On FAs:It doesn't matter is one of the big name players come,as long as the bulls add a scoring SG, a legit deep threat and a post player it don't matter who it is.I prefer it to be Bosh and a couple of less important guys who fill the needs I listed above.
It's OK to hate Vinny, it's OK to praise Pax for this.
But if you're a top-level coaching candidate, do you want to come work for Paxson now? He HAS to go. This isn't WWII.
Is it just me or have the post playing careers of several of our fan favorites from the championship years failed to live up to the post playing career of Scottie Pippen?
Good, shove him again Paxson. Del Negro is a complete idiot. He needs to shove Luol too for being soft!!!!
Why couldn't this have been Angelo and Lovie or Tice and Martz? Maybe it will be.
Wow, this has me heated..I'm so much on Vinny side. What more can you expect from Vinny. He has the team over achieving 2 straight years..Paxson made the mistake drafting thomas over roy or aldridge..I blame paxson for the bulls being average not vinny. I used to respect Paxson
Technically, shouldn't Paxson be arrested for battery?
I have new respect for Paxson.
I'm not defending Vinny, but this behaviour by Pax is unacceptable. He has presided over some embarrassing moments. Noah being suspended...because his teammates said so,hiring a coach who never coached on any level,firing a coach who clearly knows what he's doing, slow to pull the trigger on trades and now he's attacking his coach, really? i began to lose respect for Pax when he gave up his GM job just because he didn't want to face the criticism. I do think he should resign because i don't think he'll be able to lure fAs.
Look - the Bulls knew they were getting a coach who was on a learning curve. This coach has made mistakes, but given the circumstances (injuries) I think he deserves to finish his contract and have the chance to earn a new one. He's been professional despite the nonsense he's had to deal with all year long. As for Pax, if this happened he should be fired. I love John Paxon. He will forever be remembered for his championship years and is a hard-nosed guy, but challenging a subordinate to a fight is unprofessional. At the very least he should publicly apologize to Del Negro, as should this entire Bulls staff for the games they've played with Vinny this season.
Paxson is bald.
Del Negro wins. Even if he gets fired, Del Negro wins.
Actually - this is great news. At least some passion around the Bulls locker room again!
All you idiots out there who are bashing Vinny are morons! The guy led us to the playoffs last year with an average team and gave the celtics a scare. It's not his fault that the team can't stay healthy this year otherwise we would have clinched the playoffs already. He hasn't done a bad job at all. Like any you fools know crap about coaching. All you know is what you read on the internet about how the media criticizes him. Stupid dorks!
Paxson is a joke! He's been here how many years and has yet to put together a good team? Paxson loads the team with below average players and people are surprised at the result? They made the playoffs last year and might make it this year in spite of the "genius".
I wonder what would have happened if Paxson, or anyone else, had ever shoved Skiles. I have a feeling Skiles wouldn't have taken it as calmly as Del Negro did.
Reinsdorf has a mess in both front offices and from both coaches right now. He better stop paying so much attention to the hockey team in Arizona and a lot more to the messes his teams are in in Chicago. They are both about to implode.
Sad but true. Vinnie sucks as a coach! Team sports develop people that want to be the star. They are recruited from their pre-teen years and coddled. Expectations are great and the talented ones, by the time they get to the NBA are few. There is only ONE ball, and as MJ learned, the whole team has to have the ability and the chance to contribute. Besides maybe 6 players on the championship year Bulls played consistently, the rest of the cast were role players, and knew it! Today, players like Jannero Pargo think they are future stars, when they are futile thinkers and poor contributors! I don't want to point out Pargo, but it is what it is!
YES.. Scott skiles A REAL COACH has the bucks in the 5th spot the freakin BUCKS who haven't been to the playoffs since 03 and who have less talent and also lost their starting SG for the season.Skiles(who shoulda never been fired by the bulls) would have this bulls team in the 5th spot just like he has the bucks.BYE VINNY
Only retarded Bulls fans would defend Vinny one of the worst Coaches in the entire sporting universe.
Vinny is not even qualified to run a grade school basketball team.
Paxson should fire VINNY, and coach the team himself
Fire Vinny, Fire Paxon, Fire Gorman, Fire everyone that has anything to do with Da Bulls....an FIRE yourself Jerry REINSDORK. You know what Jerry move your white sux to another city mmmm like jackson, mississippi....
Vinny should be fired because of terrible game management. Why do you think Del Harris "retired" and then "un-retired" somewhere else. Paxson should also be fired -- that kind of behavior is unacceptable for anybody at any level.
I loved Pax as a player, but you can't help but see his fingerprints all over this dysfunctional roster. Maybe Vinny's a good coach, maybe he's not, but with the revolving door personnel policy (and some of that is SOP in the NBA), it's amazing the guy has the Bulls anywhere near the playoffs.
Just for giggles, just look north to Milwaukee, where Paxson's last coaching hire, Scott Skiles, is coaching a team with a guy Pax traded for last year John Salmons, and they're playing lights out. The Bulls are "lights out", too...but more like in a "nobody's home" sort of way.
I'm not sure if Vinny's a good coach or not - he certainly hasn't succeeded in his 2 years here. But in his defense, what has he really had to work with, besides 2 young talented kids, a few older vets, and a carousel of salary cap space acquisitions? I doubt Phil Jackson could win more than 45 games with this mess.
Keep Vinny, or fire Vinny, but any change that doesn't involve removing John Paxson and Gar Forman is a waste of time. Kinda like the Bears preaching "massive change" in the coordinator ranks, and then making a single outside hire of a guy who was begging for the job in October, and promoting from within for the other.
Jerry, even if the Bulls don't get into the playoffs, they clearly should be swept....
Vinny is not a game coach.
Paxson hired him They both should go.
The bulls need Bosh, a shooting guard and a coach
who can win 5 games instead of lose 5 games.
How bout Phil and Koby?
to alan: You're a fool!!! Nobody could win more games with that team. You really think the Bulls have the necessary players to be "good" team in this league? Just making the playoffs will be the pinacle for this team of losers, Rose included...
Gone, Gone, gone, and Paxson needs to GO ALSO.
patrick on April 13, 2010 8:17 PM
Not here to defend vinny as a coach, but he is damned if he does and damned if doesnt play Noah. Paxson should resign immediately. No defense to this behavior.
___________________________________
Is the Patrick from Fla?
Vinny is going to get fired right after the playoffs. Way to go Paxon.
Anybody who thinks vinny has done a great job is delusional bulls were 42-40 last year 7th seed are 39-41 this year barely hangin on to the 8th seed and the bulls blew a 35 point lead at home to one of the worse teams in the league,on top of numerous blowouts and losing to the nets 2 outta 3.Last years playoffs was fools gold bulls only hung with boston because of KG and powe both being out.Vinnys bad clock management and horrible play calling cost the bulls games last year against boston.BYE VINNY
say what you want about Vinnies' coaching abilities but he is a CLASS ACT....never complains, passes the buck or makes anyone else look bad; takes all the responsibility for everything that's wrong with the team and never publicly calls anyone out. I hope JR sticks with him.
@ macko 14...Insubordination? Del Negro is a head coach who has to make decisions on the fly. He has been entrusted with the team to make those decisions. If He isn't good at what he does, then fire him. Paxson shoving Del Negro shows a total lack of professionalism and Paxon should be fired.
Wow, K.C. you just got called out on TNT by Reggie Miller. How will you respond?
While I think Vinny is a terrible game coach, his record is about what you would expect from a middling team. He's always been professional too. I hope both he and Paxson are ousted.
This is all drama stirred up by the Media and further flamed by people that have no clue what is really going on. These two are men and retired players people. They don't discuss things over tea. They can fist fight every Sunday night in front of the Jordan statue at the UC as long as it benefits the team and makes them win. That's all that matters.
Vinny has been nothing short of a complete professional in his 2 years with the Bulls. We have high standards for coaches and players in Chicago but Vinny has had little to work with in his 2 years and demonstrated an ability to advance both Rose and Noah and get a lot out of an unheralded rookie in Gibson. How has management handled this success, trated him like a pawn. Apparently tried to fire him, let the best scorer go in the offseason, traded away key role players at the deadline for cap room (which I agree with, but completely altered the chemistry of the team), attempted to fire him, but apparently did not have a replacement and made no attempt to give him any sort of credit for the success he has got out of this undermatched team and now this: Paxson has the nerve to try and fight Vinny for adhering to the playing limits Paxson set? Paxson has not received any heat for his poor drafting and the luck of stumbling into the first pick and landing Rose. Paxson should be fired and sued, he deserves no credit for the Bulls success and has been stabbing both Skiles and Vinny in the back since he became a GM. This is the worst display of management leadership since the days when Reinsdorf played hardball with the best player in history. Reward Vinny for his professionalism, success and ability to keep the team focused whilt managment is stabbing him in the back day after day.
Paxson suck... he needs to get a clue and get out of basketball. What a loser.
and, you'd all be complaining if Noah got hurt worse for being overextended. Pax should have fired Vinny on the spot for insubordiation, instead of pushing him.
sorry, I thought it was against the Nets
So why Paxson didn't say to Vinny play Noah immediately during the OT?
Bulls are joke since Pax took over. Can't blame Vinny. Pax sux.
As far as I understand it, GarPax put undue pressure on Vinny last year to play Derek Rose extra minutes, when DR was not ready for it and his defense was up to the grade. No wonder Ben Gordon didn't want to stay in such a dysfunctional organization. The present incident is a further indication of the GarPax mismanagement.
Pax has won championships Del Negro hasn't won anything and Paxson is in charge. Del Negro sucks.
Fire them all.
ROFL!!! Now shove del Negro out the door 2 seconds after the season ends PLEASE
Not here to defend vinny as a coach, but he is damned if he does and damned if doesnt play Noah. Paxson should resign immediately. No defense to this behavior.
team vinny (loyal assistant coach?) definitely leaked this story -- and to be honest -- so would I. when the NJ minutes flap was unfolding, Gar and Pax let Vinny twist in the wind. their silent treatment about the "miscommunication" definitely was not supportive of Vinny and his staff. It really damages the reputation of Vinny -- and he leaked this story to set the record straight.
If the bulls miss the playoffs -- Gar/Paxson have all the ammunition they need to fire Vinny without significant fan backlash. Despite losing your best player (ben gordon) and trading a food two-guard (salmons) for contract purposes -- the bulls are right there.
Vinnie deserves better -- but it's a horrific profession -- and he knew that going in.....
Ultimately, this makes it harder to market Chicago as free agent and/or coaching destination. I'm a fan of Paxson -- but I wouldn't want to work with him...
"The Ville on April 13, 2010 7:53 PM
Jerry, Vinny, Johnny, Ozzie and Kenny. Ship of fools."....
with seven championships combined.
If this is true, Paxson should be fired immediately. I don't care for Del Negro, but an employee cannot be allowed to attack another employee, even more so if the attacker is one of the bosses.
that was pretty low-class of Paxon. Unfortunate stuff like this makes me much less interested in basketball.
Jerry, Vinny, Johnny, Ozzie and Kenny. Ship of fools.
All of a sudden we are wanting Pax to resign? Yes this was unprofessional, but people are human and as it said it was a heated argument, Vinnie didn't do anything? It takes 2 sides. We are in the playoffs the past few years because of Pax. He should apologize and that is it. Vinnie isn't innocent.
Paxson getting so emotional he's willing to fight to protect one of his players? The guy should be ashamed of himself. They need to play Noah so they can grab that 8th playoff spot and validate their season.
Vinny although not great has always been professional. This is not behavior of a real GM. Pax must hit the road....
Paxson is finding out like other players turn General Managers that only a few can make that leap. He is not one. Mediocre performance at most. He needs to go - QUICKLY.
Completely unprofessional Pax needs to resign. BETTER YET FIRED!!
Paxson needs to just leave and quit embarrassing the team. Vinny has been treated like dirt by this organization and I hope he takes his classy behind to a REAL TEAM with a TRUE GM and shows these buffoons what he's really made of. Pax is a disaster and has been since day one!
I always thought Paxson was a class act till this incident with Vinnie. Vinnie has done a good job with the talent on this team. Remember the great run last year in the playoffs?
Who could have done better this year with all the injuries? Paxson should resign. How bush league of Paxson!
And why is Yahoo breaking this story? Great work from our local newspapers!
just mean they're not communicating properly. If i had to pick a winner in a fight though. I'd take Paxson all day. He played in the era of basketball where it took a punch in the face to get a technical foul,lol
The last thing the Bulls need is the image that the management is emotionally unstable and unprofessional. Vinny has angered quite a few fans with his coaching decisions at times, but he has always conducted himself very well. What a dumbass thing for Paxson to do.
if this is true, pax should be fired immediately for this. it's unacceptable.
My money would be on Vinny in a fight.
Paxon is about as good a fighter as he is a general manager.
It now makes perfect sense that Vinnie didn't play Noah past his minutes allotment during the OT game against New Jersey. Why risk the confrontation again?
If this report is true then it is a real black eye for Paxson.
it's a true embarassement for Paxson and whole organization. Paxson should resign immediately.
Don't fire me please!
Vinny Sux