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Ten Questions About Former Spurs: Vinny Del Negro


Part three of an ongoing series about former players who once donned the silver and black. Today's focus: Vinny Del Negro

1) Who was he?

The best way to describe Vinny Del Negro is as a backcourt version of Matt Bonner: slow-footed, not well-rounded, excellent outside shooter, more athletic than he looked (though still not very athletic), and didn't often try to do things that he couldn't. Wore #15. And like Bonner, Del Negro's role seemed to have an inverse effect on team success: In an seventh or eighth man role, Del Negro would have been ideal. But the fact that Vinny started for five seasons helps answer the question of why David Robinson's Spurs didn't appear in the Finals until Tim Duncan came to town.

2) What did he do?

Played point guard out of position sometimes, shot threes well, and didn't turn the ball over much.

3) What were his career high points?

Team-wise, Del Negro was a starting guard for a team that went a combined 121-43 in 1994-95 and 1995-96. In that 94-95 season, Vinny had his best Net Rating: 120 ORtg, 109 DRtg. FWIW, Tony Parker's best single season net rating is +10. On an individual game basis, Vinny had a couple of 30 point games, plus a play that...well, keep reading. It doesn't go here, awesome as it was.

4) Why did he leave?

Del Negro was a free agent after the 1997-98 season. He signed for less money than he had played for in the 98 season, suggesting that the Spurs were no longer interested in his services.

5) Was San Antonio his last stop?

Nope. In the 1999 season, Del Negro played for Milwaukee. In 99-00, he played for Golden State and Phoenix. In 00--01, Del Negro played two games for the Suns, and that was that.

6) Did he ever turn up on Sportscenter's Top Plays?

He damn well better have.

The great James Worthy played twelve seasons in the NBA, all of them with one of the most storied franchises in the history of sports, the Los Angeles Lakers. Worthy teamed with fellow Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to win three championships in four seasons (1985, 1987, and 1988), and in the process earned himself the NBA Finals MVP award in 1988, among many other honors in his storied career.

By the 1993-94 season, Worthy had logged eleven seasons along with a ton of playoff minutes. That wear and tear along with his age - thirty-three was pretty old for a player in those days - had Worthy coming off the bench in a smaller role than in his heyday.

Then this happened.

James Worthy retired after the 1993-94 season.

If this play didn't appear on Sportscenter, well, WHY DO WE EVEN HAVE A SPORTSCENTER THEN.

7) What is the last word on his Spurs legacy?

Among Spurs guards that played in the 1990's, only Rod Strickland, Willie Anderson, Avery Johnson, and Mario Elie were better players. That puts Vinny D on the Spurs 1990's 3rd team, so that's not too bad.

8) What's he doing these days?

After coaching in the NBA with a little success in Chicago and Los Angeles, Vinny can be found on NBATV as a studio analyst.

9) Anything else worth mentioning?

Spurs at Rockets, NBC Game of the Week, can't remember if it was 93-94 or 94-95. After Del Negro went into the lane for a dunk, Bill Walton, with appropriate astonishment, says what just about all of the NBA watching world is thinking:

"I didn't even know he could dunk!"

In a sense, acquiring Vinny Del Negro was a move you'd see out of today's Spurs. Vinny played two seasons in the NBA, 1988-89 and 1989-90, before spending two years playing in Italy. Granted, he'd had some NBA experience, but it sounds a bit like the stories of, among others, Gary Neal and Stephen Jackson.

Although Del Negro was a role player, how many non-All Star guards played in the NBA in three decades?

10) Who plays like him in today's game?

Combo guard, 6'3"-6'4", not great off the bounce, good from three? I hate to be so Spursy about this, but Gary Neal is a pretty good comp.

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