Vinny Del Negro has such a weird career path: Radio commentator --> Director of Player Personnel --> Assistant GM --> Head Coach???? Never seen that sort of career progression before. Not as crazy as Olshey's actor to GM move since at least Del Negro played in the NBA. But I do find it odd that he's not been able to (or hasn't wanted to) get a coaching gig since 2013. Eight years is a lot of time and I wonder if the game has passed him by at this point. Also, Olshey hired him as the head coach of the Clippers in 2010. It was one of Olshey's first moves as the Clippers GM. Maybe it's not that crazy that this is the first time in awhile his name has popped up in the coaching circles... Neil always gets his guys.
Who do people think fills out the coaching staff, the head coach or Neil? Do people think Neil tells Chauncey who his staff will be?
No argument that Neil's path was unsual. But he did have a few things in between those two positions. "Olshey later served as director of player development for SFX Sports Group, Inc., where he created, organized, and conducted NBA pre-draft training camps that produced 15 lottery picks, 25 first-round selections and 57 current NBA players.[5] He was also an assistant coach at Artesia High School in Lakewood, California, where he coached future UCLA and NBA player Jason Kapono."
Sure, maybe some. But if Billups played for Del Negro and knows him and doesn’t like him or respect him he isn’t on staff. Chauncey won’t be forced anyone. He will choose the staff. I could see a lot of referred candidates like “hey we had Dale Osbourne and love him it would be great to bring him back”, and Chauncey meets him and says cool I like him. But it’s not like Neil is going to go hire VDN like he chose the HC
