Del Negro's Bulls Can't Hold off Celtics

After what many are calling the best series in the history of the NBA playoffs, former NC State star, Vinny Del Negro and his Chicago Bulls could not match the firepower that the Celtics had to offer. After 6 games and 7 overtimes, the Celtics were the last team standing after beating the Bulls 109-99. That is not to take anything away from Vinny and the Bulls. In his very first coaching job, former Wolfpacker Vinny Del Negro led a young and hungry Chicago Bulls team to a 41-41 record that landed them 2nd place in the NBA's Central Division and earned them a playoff berth.

What many do not realize is what an immense accomplishment this was for Del Negro. After leading Jim Valvano's 1987 NC State Wolfpack to an ACC championship (in which Vinny was named MVP), he was drafted by the Sacramento Kings. After making his rounds around the NBA for 13 years (Spurs, Cavs, Warriors, Magic, Bucks, Clippers, Suns), Vinny decided to hang up his sneakers and get into broadcasting. After a few years of broadcasting the Suns thought enough of him to promote him to "Director of Player Personnel" in 2006. Just this past year, after never having coached a game in his life, Vinny Del Negro was considered and hired for the Chicago Bulls opening. Although his resume wouldn't have predicted this...others could. One of which was our very own Coach Lowe, who knows Vinny from his Wolfpack ties and time in the NBA.

We talked about it every now and then when I would see him,” Lowe said. “Sometimes you have an idea that people are thinking about doing something, when they ask you about players. We would talk about players and strategy things. Vinny thought the game as a player. He was a pretty intelligent player. I wasn’t that surprised [that he got a head coaching job].”

We are very proud of Vinny and are excited to see another Wolfpacker join the NBA coaching ranks and see so much success, so quickly.

*quote from gopack.com