Wojnarowski: Sources: Bulls VP Paxson shoved Del Negro

I think what really hurt was Fizer was involved in trade rumors both seasons he was injured. His first injury was shortly before the trade deadline. The next season, he would have been an expiring contract to trade...

His competition? Curry, Chandler, Rose, JWill, Yell, Crawford

Check out Fizer's pages on 82games.com:
http://82games.com/02CHI8C.HTM
http://82games.com/03CHI14C.HTM

 

Where did this "vinnie leaked the story" once or twice bullshit come from?

Or the KC held it back out of respect for Vinnie?

Are we making this up as we go along?

 

The Tribune's take:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...bulls-playoffs--20100413,0,617080,full.column

Vinny Del Negro, John Paxson parting won’t be such sweet sorrow

Whatever road Chicago Bulls management takes to settle things, it will be a mess

David Haugh

In the Wake of the News

10:07 PM CDT, April 13, 2010

Inside Vinny Del Negro's office March 30 after a frustrating loss to the Suns, the differences between John Paxson and Del Negro became irreconcilable. A fight ensued. And Paxson's Chicago legacy was stained.

The Del Negro-Paxson relationship already was beyond repair. This gave it a time of death and a paper trail.

How many pink slips will it ultimately produce?

Sure, the details are irresistible. A source Tuesday night confirmed Yahoo! Sports' version that Paxson grabbed Del Negro's tie and poked him in the chest because he was upset Joakim Noah played more minutes than management wanted because of Noah's plantar fasciitis.

Paxson, according to an independent source, also called Del Negro selfish and had to be restrained. There was the cursing and yelling often overheard when men act like Neanderthals. A more detailed blow-by-blow account may emerge. The Bulls were pretty busy beating the Celtics 101-93 to stay in control of the East's final playoff spot.

But as juicy as the narrative is, all that really matters is this. The top basketball executive for the Bulls physically attacked a subordinate. Forget that it was a subordinate Paxson no longer liked or respected. Forget how much we all love Paxson.

Professionals aren't judged by feelings. They are evaluated by actions.

The loose cannon at the Berto Center is kept in the office of the executive vice president of operations. This wasn't a case of a coach going after a player in the heat of the battle. This wasn't two teammates letting their frustration boil over into the locker room after a hotly contested game. This was two guys in suits squaring off over policy.

In sports, they may call that boys being boys. In many places outside the arena, they may call it assault. Someone familiar with what happened already has.

It was deemed a serious enough altercation that the Bulls organization hired attorneys in the days that followed to obtain witness statements from assistant coaches. It was the type of behavior no corporate entity can tolerate without taking some sort of disciplinary action.

"It's an organizational issue that is being handled internally," a team spokesman said.

Whatever that means.

As loyal as Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is to employees, he is unlikely to fire Paxson over this. Nor should he. Paxson has served the organization long enough and well enough to classify this as an isolated incident.

No, Paxson shouldn't lose his job over this, but he loses whatever faith anybody had left in him to lead this team forward with any level-headedness.

Order an unpaid vacation, anger management and counseling. Do whatever Fortune 500 companies do to executives who are wound too tightly and let that affect their job.

The Bulls' dirty little secret is out. John Paxson's a hothead, nothing like the calm, cool player Chicago saw on the court. Bulls employees have known it. Those around the team have known it. Now Chicago and the rest of the NBA know it too.

If you think Paxson beat long odds two years ago when the Bulls won the lottery and the right to make the No. 1 overall pick, consider the impossible trick he just pulled off. He made Del Negro a sympathetic figure.

Del Negro deserves credit for not letting the fight escalate and keeping the matter private. It gives his next employer the impression that Del Negro can handle the worst kind of internal strife, when the boss strikes back.

Just the same, it wasn't the first time Del Negro's office was the scene of confrontation involving the coach. According to a source, Del Negro loudly challenged former Bull Tyrus Thomas to a fight after Thomas barged in demanding more playing time.

This officially makes the Bulls a mess.

Nobody is naïve enough to believe Paxson's attack didn't influence Del Negro's decision-making process concerning Noah's playing time last Friday in New Jersey. Del Negro blamed a miscommunication with management for Noah playing only 12 seconds after the final minute of regulation in a double-overtime loss to the Nets.

He can call it miscommunication if he wants. I'll call it intimidation.

Despite it all, the playoffs remain a possibility. The players who have played hard and competed while this basketball soap opera has unfolded in front of them deserve the postseason as a reward. It would say a lot about their mettle. It also would make a strong statement about Del Negro to every GM about to fill a head-coaching vacancy.

But whenever this season ends, whether it's Wednesday night in Charlotte or after a Cavaliers' first-round sweep, the divorce between Vinny and Pax must come quickly. It doesn't have to be amicable.

Why start now?

 

"Del Negro deserves credit for not letting the fight escalate and keeping the matter private. It gives his next employer the impression that Del Negro can handle the worst kind of internal strife, when the boss strikes back."

 

The players.

The Tribune story indicates Vinnie wasn't the source. It says "A SOURCE" (meaning one person) confirmed the story. It also calls it an "independent source."

It could be someone in the NBA office proper.

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sport...lls-celtics-chicago--20100413,0,2508394.story

Del Negro, Paxson spat comes to fore

Bulls coach and vice president had vocal, physical confrontation over Joakim Noah’s playing time

By K.C. Johnson, Tribune reporter

The Bulls have 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 after 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. Del Negro wouldn't comment and a Bulls spokesman said it's an organizational issue that will be handled internally.

According to sources, Paxson came to the doorway of Del Negro's office after Del Negro played Noah 27 minutes, 5 seconds — or 2:05 more than allowed. 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 confront Del Negro vocally, which prompted Del Negro to rise from his chair and walk toward Paxson. At this point, sources said, Paxson grabbed Del Negro by his tie and shoved him.

Several players said they heard the vocal altercation and later learned details of the physical aspect. Three players, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the players vowed not to let the incident distract them.

Sources said Paxson called Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf in the direct aftermath of the incident to tell his boss what occurred.

Sources also said Del Negro spent the next few days after the incident trying to gather written statements from organizational members.

The incident speaks to the deteriorated relationship between management and Del Negro, whose future job status has been an ongoing storyline all season. During widespread speculation claiming Del Negro would be fired any day during the Bulls' December struggles, the Tribune reported Del Negro would finish the season but not be brought back for the third and final guaranteed season of his contract.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers, a close friend of Del Negro's, defended his colleague.

"I think it'd be too bad," Rivers said, when asked how he would feel if Del Negro were fired. "I think he has done a very good job. They took us to seven games with no (Kevin) Garnett. The best player in that series for the Bulls ( Ben Gordon) isn't on the team anymore.

"I think expectations were unrealistic, especially when you factor in all the injuries. I'm obviously biased. Vinny is better than a good friend. We've all been through it as coaches. It's tough. All you can do is coach."

Del Negro's relationship with management has been tepid since he and his staff felt management didn't support him enough in December. In management's only public comments about Del Negro's future, general manager Gar Forman wouldn't commit to Del Negro beyond this season.

Noah's playing time has been an ongoing issue as well. Just last Friday, the Bulls endured criticism for a miscommunication during a double overtime loss to the Nets at New Jersey.

In that game, Del Negro had exceeded Noah's minutes limit of 35 slightly because no stoppage in play came until late in regulation. Del Negro then received clearance from management to exceed the limit because of the game's importance.

But Del Negro said he worked under the impression he only could use Noah for late-game possessions and thus only played him for 12 seconds late in the first overtime. The Nets pulled away early in the second overtime.

 

Your opinion is quite different from the head coach of the then defending NBA Champions. He had to coach against the Bulls and design defenses against the team. If he says Gordon was our best player in the series, it surely carries more weight than your opinion.