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Del Negro grateful for opportunity, proud of accomplishments

by

May 4

Moments after GM Gar Forman and EVP-Basketball Operations John Paxson met the media to officially announce that Vinny Del Negro had been relieved of his head coaching duties, Del Negro made the following statement outside the Berto Center:

“I want to say how grateful I am to Jerry Reinsdorf and the Chicago Bulls. They have a lot of great people in the organization. I’d be remiss not to say how grateful I am to the players, as hard as they worked and developed. I feel very strongly that the organization is in a much better place now than it was two years ago when I started. I’m proud of the things we accomplished as a team. I’m proud of the players; they put the work in and they have a bright future.

“I know how hard my assistant coaches worked to support me, to support the players and to develop the players. I think there were a lot of positives with the development of the young core of guys that you have here. I’m very happy, pleased and proud about that.

“Last is the fans. The United Center, playing in front of sellout crowds, number one in the league in attendance; they’ve always been very supportive and passionate about the Chicago Bulls and they should. There is a great history and tradition with the organization.

“And that’s it. I just want to come out and tell Jerry and the Bulls how grateful I am for the last few years. Now, you move forward and grow from experiences. I just want to say thank you to Jerry and the Bulls.”

Listen to Del Negro’s full statement (05.04.10):

Audio—General Manager Gar Forman announces the dismissal of Vinny Del Negro as head coach, talks about the organization’s coaching search, and how it might impact free agency this offseason (Parts I & II – 05.04.10):


EVP-Basketball Operations John Paxson apologizes for an incident between him and Vinny Del Negro on March 30 and discusses his role within the organization moving forward (05.04.10):

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