| 14 April 2010
This story is slowly getting out of hand. You know what story I'm talking about. The one where the Bulls front office started their own version of Fight Club.
Yesterday, Adrian Wojnarowski broke a story where after a game on March 30th where Vinny Del Negro played Joakim Noah for 27 minutes after a management imposed 25-minute cap, Paxson walked into Del Negro's office and proceeded to grab him by the tie and "jab" him in the chest twice, whatever that means.
"After a loss to the Phoenix Suns on March 30, an irate Paxson walked into the coach’s office at the United Center and confronted Del Negro over a narrow breach of a management-imposed minutes limit on injured forward Joakim Noah. Sources said Paxson first grabbed a hold of Del Negro’s tie and seemingly tried to provoke him with two successive jabs into his chest. Paxson was even heard to angrily challenge Del Negro to a fight.
There were several staff members present, sources said, and assistant coach Bernie Bickerstaff stepped between Paxson and Del Negro and pulled Paxson away.
Sources said Del Negro did not retaliate, mostly out of fear the incident could be used to void his contract without pay or hurt future career opportunities elsewhere. The Bulls have dispatched lawyers to interview witnesses about the incident, sources said."
That's lovely. Apparently Gar and Pax were furious with Vinny stemming back to a game on February 26th where Vinny played Joakim beyond a management-imposed cap. Joakim missed the next 10 games.
But if you thought that was all, you have another thing coming.
JUST TODAY, it is being reported by ESPNChicago that Vinny was the aggressor in the latest incident, and this isn't the first physical altercation in volving Vinny.
"Chicago Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro initiated the physical contact with executive vice president John Paxson during an altercation on March 30 -- contrary to a report that painted Paxson as the aggressor -- a source close to the situation told ESPNChicago.com....
...a source close to the situation disputed [Paxson] initiated that argument, and said that it wasn't the first altercation Del Negro has had with management. The source said that Del Negro and Bulls general manager Gar Forman had an altercation in Forman's office that was similar, but did not give details.
"So this was not the first time [Del Negro] exhibited this behavior," the source said. "[Del Negro] put his own interest ahead of the Bulls."
...The source said when Noah was brought back a second time after the injury, it was made even more clear to Del Negro what Noah's time limit was, but he was allowed to save a minute or two for close games or play Noah for one possession at the end if he had already reached his time limit and the game was close. Those were the only exceptions. And Del Negro looked for "loopholes," the source said."
Good lord. Now Del Negro is the one who's trying to start fights with his GM? This is hard to wrap my head around. I really don't know who and what to believe. It's been reported in the past that Paxson has some anger management issues, and that's part of the reason why he was so stressed out while he was GM and decided to step down. It's still incredibly shocking that he would put his professional career and personal life in jeopardy by going into his head coach's office and trying to bait the coach into a fight. You have to know that something like that will eventually leak to the press, and you only make Vinny, who is a bum of a coach, look like the good guy.
But if Vinny is the one who is starting fights with management, that's just beyond absurd. You are a new coach who is constantly being doubted and usually the butt of any coaching jokes. How could you even consider putting your future in jeopardy by attacking your GM or Head Executive of Basketball Operations. You have to be a mad-man. I can't imagine that Vinny was truly the aggressor, although this ESPN source seems pretty sure of themselves. But Vinny? With everything he lacks in the coaching department, he's handled himself with the utmost respect and professionalism toward management. Period. He comes off as nothing but a classy guy. I can't imagine that he would storm into his GM's office and do this. And more than once for that matter? No way, right? But who really knows what goes on with these guys behind the scenes? You don't really know someone unless you know them. I'll tell you one thing though...the whole fiasco the other night with Joakim Noah playing only 12 seconds combined in two overtimes makes MUCH more sense now.
It's unfortunate that this story leaked at the absolute most crucial point in the Bulls' season. And I certainly hope that it doesn't remain a distraction and detract from their focus. I respect K.C. Johnson for not releasing this story when he found out about it around 3 weeks ago, even though it was his job to do so. He's clearly respects Vinny's and management's privacy, and sometimes the moral high ground takes precedent over breaking a story. That, and he probably wants the Bulls to make the playoffs and distractions could hurt them and stop them from doing so. A TRUE BULLS FAN, K.C. I like it. I'll update as more info leaks, but right now, I really don't know what to believe. I'm leaning toward the Pax as the aggressor story, simply due to how Vinny usually conducts himself, but who really knows...honestly.
