Jerry Sloan

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Jerry Sloan
Jerry Sloan 1969 publicity photo.JPG
Jerry Sloan in a 1969 publicity photo by the Chicago Bulls
Personal information
Born (1942-03-28) March 28, 1942 (age 82)
McLeansboro, Illinois
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school McLeansboro
(McLeansboro, Illinois)
College Evansville (1962–1965)
NBA draft 1965 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4th overall
Selected by the Baltimore Bullets
Playing career 1965–1976
Position Guard / Forward
Number 14, 4
Coaching career 1978–2011
Career history
As player:
1965–1966 Baltimore Bullets
1966–1976 Chicago Bulls
As coach:
1978–1979 Chicago Bulls (assistant)
1979–1982 Chicago Bulls
1985–1988 Utah Jazz (assistant)
1988–2011 Utah Jazz
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points 10,571 (14.0 ppg)
Rebounds 5,615 (7.4 rpg)
Assists 1,925 (2.5 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as coach

Gerald Eugene "Jerry" Sloan (born March 28, 1942) is an American former National Basketball Association player and head coach, and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.[1] Former NBA commissioner David Stern called Sloan "one of the greatest and most respected coaches in NBA history."[2] Sloan had a career regular-season win–loss record of 1,221–803, placing him third all-time in NBA wins at the time he retired.[3] Sloan was only the fifth coach in NBA history to reach 1,000 victories and is one of two coaches in NBA history to record 1,000 wins with one club (the Utah Jazz). He also coached for one team longer than anyone in NBA history. The 2009–10 season was his 22nd season (and 21st full season) as coach of the Jazz. Sloan coached the Jazz to 15 consecutive playoff appearances from 1989–2003. Although he never won a Coach of the Year award, he is one of only four coaches in NBA history with 15-plus consecutive seasons with a winning record (Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson are the others).[3] He led Utah to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, but lost to the Chicago Bulls both times.

After Tom Kelly stepped down as manager of the Minnesota Twins in Major League Baseball in 2001, Sloan became the longest-tenured head coach in American major league sports with their current franchise. He resigned on February 10, 2011. On June 19, 2013, the Utah Jazz announced that Sloan was returning as an adviser and scouting consultant.[4]

Early life

Born and raised in Gobbler's Knob, 15 miles south of McLeansboro, Illinois,[5] Sloan was the youngest of 10 children and was raised by a single mother after his father died when Jerry was four years old. He would wake up at 4:30 a.m. to do farm chores and then walk almost two miles to get to school in time for 7 a.m. basketball practice. Sloan graduated an all-state player from McLeansboro High School in 1960.[6]

Playing career

Sloan was selected #19 in the 1964 NBA draft by the Baltimore Bullets, sitting out the season, then was selected #4 in the 1965 NBA draft by the Bullets, who traded him after one season to the new Chicago Bulls, where he became "the Original Bull", known for his tenacious defense, leading them to the playoffs in their first season, and to their first and only division title before the Michael Jordan era; after a series of knee injuries, he retired in 1976.

Coaching career

While at Evansville, coach McCutchan suggested that Sloan coach at his alma mater. After retiring in 1976, Sloan took the Evansville job but withdrew after five days.[7] That same season the Evansville basketball team as well as coaches were killed in a plane crash at Evansville Airport.

Two years later, Sloan was hired by the Bulls as a scout.[8] After one season in this role, he became an assistant coach with the team. In 1979, Sloan was promoted to the position of head coach. He held the position for less than three seasons, winning 94 games and losing 121. He led the team to the playoffs in his second year, but was fired after a poor start during the following campaign.

After departing Chicago, Sloan became a scout for the Utah Jazz for one season. He then became coach of the Evansville Thunder of the Continental Basketball Association for the 1984 season before returning as Assistant Coach with the Jazz. After Frank Layden became team president in December 1988, the Jazz chose Sloan as the new head coach.[9] Sloan enjoyed a successful run of sixteen consecutive seasons of taking his team to the playoffs, during which time he coached Hall of Famers Karl Malone and John Stockton, along with other stars including Jeff Hornacek, Antoine Carr, Tom Chambers, Mark Eaton, and Jeff Malone.

Sloan led the Jazz to six division championships and 10 seasons with greater than 50 wins. He also took the Jazz to the NBA Finals twice, losing in the 1997 and 1998 championships, both times to his old team, the Michael Jordan-led Bulls. By the end of this period, he had joined Pat Riley and Phil Jackson as the only coaches with 10 or more seasons winning 50 or more games. After the retirement of long-time Jazz anchors Malone and Stockton, Sloan coached a younger group of budding stars, including Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur and later, Deron Williams.

In the spring of 2004, Sloan and his team were involved in a battle for the eighth spot in the Western Conference, which would have given Sloan his seventeenth straight trip to the playoffs. The Jazz were tied with the Denver Nuggets for the eighth and last spot of the playoffs with three games to go in the regular season. The Jazz lost the final two games, causing Sloan to miss the playoffs for the first time in eighteen seasons as Jazz coach. After leading a young, dismantled team in its first year without Stockton and Malone to an unexpected 42–40 record, he finished just behind Hubie Brown of the Memphis Grizzlies in voting for the 2004 NBA Coach of the Year Award.

Sloan collected his 1,000th career win against the Dallas Mavericks on December 11, 2006, in a 101–79 victory, which made him only the fifth coach in NBA history to reach the milestone.[10] After disappointing seasons in 2004–05 and 2005–06, the strong play of the Jazz in the 2006–07 season had renewed speculation from some sportswriters[according to whom?] that Sloan would be a strong candidate for Coach of the Year in 2007. However, Sloan lost the award to Toronto Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell, who led his team to a franchise-record-tying 47 victories and their first Atlantic Division title. Sloan lost the vote by 93 points, 394–301.[11]

The Jazz advanced to the Western Conference finals on May 15, 2007 with a 100–87 win over the Golden State Warriors. It was the sixth time in franchise history that Utah advanced to the conference finals, all coming under Sloan. However, they would go to lose 4-1 to the eventual NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs.

During the 2008–09 season, Sloan reached 1,000 wins as coach of the Jazz on November 7 after beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 104–97 in a Friday night game. He became the first coach in NBA history with 1,000 wins for one team.[12] Sloan returned as head coach of the Jazz for the 2009–10 season, leading the team to a 53–29 record and the playoffs.

Mirroring his tenacity as a player, Sloan was just as fiery as a coach. He was suspended one game for pushing referee Bob Delaney in April 1993. A decade later, Sloan was served a seven-game suspension in 2003 for pushing referee Courtney Kirkland in Sacramento.[13]

In April 2009 Sloan was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in the same class as his former longtime point guard John Stockton. Sloan chose Class of 2006 Hall of Famer Charles Barkley to introduce him during his induction ceremony.[14]

Resignation as Jazz head coach

Sloan revealed on February 7, 2011, that he had earlier in the year signed a contract extension to coach the Jazz for the 2011–12 season, which would have been his 24th season as head coach with the Jazz.[15] However, on February 10, 2011, Sloan and assistant Phil Johnson resigned their positions effective immediately.[16] Sloan downplayed reports that conflicts with players prompted his departure. "I've had confrontations with players since I've been in the league," Sloan said. "There's only so much energy left and my energy has dropped." KSL-TV later asked Sloan whether reported conflicts with guard Deron Williams forced him to leave. "I forced myself out," Sloan responded.[17] Williams acknowledged that he had a disagreement with Sloan during the previous night's game, but he added, "I would never force coach Sloan out of Utah. He's meant more to this town, more to this organization than I have by far. I would have asked out of Utah first."[18]

His last NBA game as Jazz head coach came against, coincidentally, the Chicago Bulls. The Jazz lost, 91–86, on February 9, in a game with various subplots such as former Jazz forward Carlos Boozer, then a Bull, revisiting his former club, and Sloan's long association with the Bulls as a player and coach. Assistant coach Tyrone Corbin was named as Sloan's replacement.[3]

Phil Jackson's reaction to his resignation was typical of the response from around the league:

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He was stubborn, you have to be as a coach. But he had a system and the system was effective. It’s not easy to have a team in Utah. It’s not the biggest draw in the country as far as free agents to go there. And they were able to have a really great home record, played the kind of basketball that was admirable. So we all had admiration for him as coaches around the league. So as a colleague, we’ll miss him.

— Phil Jackson, Former Chicago Bulls/Los Angeles Lakers head coach[2]

Nearly two weeks later, Williams was involved in a trade on February 23, 2011 that sent him to the New Jersey Nets.[19] Without the familiar sight of Sloan on the Jazz sideline and now without an all-star talent in Williams, longtime NBA writer Ian Thomsen wrote, "First Jerry Sloan leaves, now Williams is sent away. For two decades we knew who the Utah Jazz were and what they stood for as a franchise. Now we, and they, can have no idea."[20]

A year later Karl Malone, who played under Sloan for more than a decade, indicated that Sloan did not feel supported by Kevin O'Conner and Greg Miller.[21]

Return to the Jazz

On June 19, 2013, the Utah Jazz announced that Sloan was returning as an adviser and scouting consultant.[4]

On January 31, 2014, the Jazz honored Sloan by raising a banner featuring the number "1223," which represents Sloan wins with the Jazz from 1988 to 2011.[22]

Personal life

Sloan married his high-school sweetheart, Bobbye. After a well-publicized six-year battle against breast cancer, she died of pancreatic cancer in 2004.[23] They had three children and were married 41 years. One of his sons, Brian, also played basketball for McLeansboro High School and was a member of its undefeated 1984 state championship team, and also played five seasons under Coach Bob Knight at Indiana University, collecting an NCAA title in 1987. His grandson Grant is a member of the University of Virginia baseball team.[24]

In 2006 Jerry Sloan married Tammy Jessop, in Salt Lake City. Sloan has a stepson, Rhett as a result of this marriage.[25]

Sloan is known to wear John Deere hats[5] and to collect and restore tractors as a hobby.[26] After amassing a collection of tractors that numbered 70, Sloan decided to sell all but two of them after a 35-year-old Allis-Chalmers tractor was stolen.[27][28] After years of a self-confessed habit of drinking and smoking too much, he has since stopped both, although he has claimed that it never affected him or his coaching.[5]

Head coaching record

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win-loss %
Post season PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win-loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Chicago 1979–80 82 30 52 .366 3rd in Midwest — — — — Missed Playoffs
Chicago 1980–81 82 45 37 .549 2nd in Central 6 2 4 .333 Lost in First round
Chicago 1981–82 51 19 31 .373 (fired) — — — — —
Utah 1988–89 65 40 25 .615 1st in Midwest 3 0 3 .000 Lost in First round
Utah 1989–90 82 55 27 .671 2nd in Midwest 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First round
Utah 1990–91 82 54 28 .659 2nd in Midwest 9 4 5 .444 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Utah 1991–92 82 55 27 .671 1st in Midwest 16 9 7 .563 Lost in Conf. Finals
Utah 1992–93 82 47 35 .573 3rd in Midwest 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First round
Utah 1993–94 82 53 29 .646 3rd in Midwest 16 8 8 .500 Lost in Conf. Finals
Utah 1994–95 82 60 22 .732 2nd in Midwest 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First round
Utah 1995–96 82 55 27 .671 2nd in Midwest 18 10 8 .556 Lost in Conf. Finals
Utah 1996–97 82 64 18 .780 1st in Midwest 20 13 7 .650 Lost in NBA Finals
Utah 1997–98 82 62 20 .756 1st in Midwest 20 13 7 .650 Lost in NBA Finals
Utah 1998–99 50 37 13 .740 2nd in Midwest 11 5 6 .455 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Utah 1999–00 82 55 27 .671 3rd in Midwest 10 4 6 .400 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Utah 2000–01 82 53 29 .646 3rd in Midwest 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First round
Utah 2001–02 82 44 38 .537 4th in Midwest 4 1 3 .250 Lost in First round
Utah 2002–03 82 47 35 .573 4th in Midwest 5 1 4 .200 Lost in First round
Utah 2003–04 82 42 40 .512 7th in Midwest — — — — Missed Playoffs
Utah 2004–05 82 26 56 .317 5th in Northwest — — — — Missed Playoffs
Utah 2005–06 82 41 41 .500 2nd in Northwest — — — — Missed Playoffs
Utah 2006–07 82 51 31 .621 1st in Northwest 17 9 8 .529 Lost in Conf. Finals
Utah 2007–08 82 54 28 .659 1st in Northwest 12 6 6 .500 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Utah 2008–09 82 48 34 .585 3rd in Northwest 5 1 4 .200 Lost in First round
Utah 2009–10 82 53 29 .646 1st in Northwest 10 4 6 .400 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Utah 2010–11 54 31 23 .574 (resigned) — — — — —
Career 2,024 1,221 803 .603 202 98 104 .485

Quotes

"These guys have been criticized the last few years for not getting to where we're going, but I've always said that the most important thing in sports is to keep trying. Let this be an example of what it means to say it's never over." –after the Utah Jazz defeated the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals.[29]

"I don't care if he's 19 or 30. If he's going to be on the floor in the NBA, he's got to be able to step up and get after it. We can't put diapers on him one night, and a jockstrap the next night. It's just the way it is." –on second year guard C.J. Miles, the youngest player on the 2006–07 Utah Jazz.[30]

After Stockton had injured his finger during a game, Jerry was asked what finger Stockton injured. Jerry replied, "The one on his hand."

"Size doesn't make any difference; heart is what makes a difference."[8]

References

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  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 [1] Utah Jazz: Jerry Sloan rejoins organization as senior adviser, The Salt Lake Tribune, 20 June 2013
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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