May 30, 2012

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Clippers exercised the contract option for head coach Vinny Del Negro on Tuesday, keeping him behind the bench for the 2012-13 season.

Per club policy, no terms were announced.

The Clips finished 40-26, good enough for second place in the Pacific Division but were swept in the second round in a four-game series by the San Antonio Spurs. LA beat Memphis in seven games in the first round.

Del Negro spearheaded a significant improvement from his first year at the helm, in which the Clippers went 32-50 and finished fourth in the Pacific.

The 45-year-old Massachusetts native, who played 14 NBA seasons from 1988-2002, holds a 154-158 overall mark in four years as a head coach -- two with both the Bulls and Clippers.