Vinnie Del Negro
Born: August 9, 1966
Position: Shooting Guard
Height: 6-4 (1.93 m)
Jerseys worn: #8 (in Phoenix)
In the NBA:
His Game:
Del Negro could play both guard positions, score efficiently and pass well while commiting few turnovers.
His Career:
Selected #29 in the 1988 NBA Draft, by the Sacramento Kings. He played for the Sacramento Kings during the 1989 and 1990 seasons, averaging 9.7 points and 3.3 assists in 24.4 minutes in his second season.
After returning from Italy, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs and played there from 1992 till 1998. He was the team's starting shooting guard during his last 4 seasons in San Antonio. In 1994 he played mostly as a point guard and dished a career-high 4.2 assists per game. In 1995 he was the startng point guard of a Spurs team that had a 62-20 record, the best in the NBA. In 1995-'96 he enjoyed his finest season, averaging career-highs in points (14.5), rebounds (3.3), steals (1) and minutes (33.7), while also dishing out 3.8 assists and shooting almost 50% in FG's and over 83% in FT's. During the 1996 playoffs he played well too, scoring 14.3 points/game and shooting 59% in 3-pointers.
He played for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1999 and 2000, as a reserve guard. He got traded to Golden State and from there to Phoenix within the 2001 season. In 2002 he played just 2 games for the Phoenix Suns.
Records:
Del Negro set a San Antonio Spurs record by hitting 50 consecutive free throws between November 29, 1993 and February 4, 1994.
Statistics:
| YEAR |
Team |
Games |
Pts |
FT % |
FG % |
3PM |
3-pt % |
Reb. |
Trn |
Ast |
St |
Blk |
Min. |
Star? |
| 1989 |
Sacramento |
80 |
7.1 |
.850 |
.475 |
6 |
.300 |
2.1 |
1.0 |
2.6 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
19.5 |
No |
| 1990 |
Sacramento |
76 |
9.7 |
.871 |
.462 |
10 |
.313 |
2.6 |
1.5 |
3.3 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
24.4 |
No |
| 1993 |
San Antonio |
73 |
7.4 |
.863 |
.507 |
6 |
.250 |
2.2 |
1.3 |
4.0 |
0.6 |
0.0 |
20.9 |
No |
| 1994 |
San Antonio |
77 |
10.0 |
.824 |
.487 |
15 |
.349 |
2.1 |
1.3 |
4.2 |
0.8 |
0.0 |
25.3 |
No |
| 1995 |
San Antonio |
75 |
12.5 |
.790 |
.486 |
66 |
.407 |
2.6 |
0.7 |
3.0 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
31.5 |
No |
| 1996 |
San Antonio |
82 |
14.5 |
.832 |
.497 |
57 |
.380 |
3.3 |
1.2 |
3.8 |
1.0 |
0.1 |
33.7 |
YES |
| 1997 |
San Antonio |
72 |
12.3 |
.868 |
.467 |
44 |
.314 |
2.9 |
1.3 |
3.2 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
31.2 |
No |
| 1998 |
San Antonio |
54 |
9.5 |
.796 |
.441 |
17 |
.436 |
2.8 |
1.0 |
3.4 |
0.7 |
0.1 |
31.9 |
No |
| 1999 |
Milwaukee |
48 |
5.9 |
.800 |
.422 |
13 |
.433 |
2.1 |
1.1 |
3.6 |
0.7 |
0.1 |
22.8 |
No |
| 2000 |
Milwaukee |
67 |
5.2 |
.897 |
.471 |
8 |
.333 |
1.6 |
0.7 |
2.4 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
18.1 |
No |
| 2001 |
Golden State / Phoenix |
65 |
3.9 |
.932 |
.453 |
1 |
.077 |
1.3 |
0.5 |
1.9 |
0.4 |
0.0 |
14.2 |
No |
| 2002 |
Phoenix |
2 |
1.0 |
.000 |
.250 |
0 |
.000 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
3.0 |
No |
| Career |
Career |
771 |
9.1 |
.840 |
.475 |
243 |
.359 |
2.3 |
1.1 |
3.2 |
0.7 |
0.1 |
24.9 |
No |
In Europe:
In Italy:
Del Negro took a 2 years break from the NBA and played in Italy for Benetton Treviso. In 1991, with Kukoc as his teammate, he had 25.5 points/game. In 1992 he led the team into winning the Italian Championship and was named playoffs MVP. During those years he shot an outstanding 58.6% from the field and 85.4% from the free throw line.