ESPN REPORT: Sad News, Utah Jazz head coach has been issued a…
SALT LAKE CITY: After leading the Utah Jazz for 23 seasons and 1,127 victories, Hall of Famer Jerry Sloan announced his resignation on Thursday, citing a lack of energy.
During a news conference on Thursday afternoon, an emotional Sloan stated, “I felt this was the time to move on.” “Being in one organization for that long is impressive. Once more, I’ve been fortunate. It’s a new day today. I’ll feel better after this is over. It’s time to move on; my time is over.”
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Even Sloan was taken aback by the resignation of longtime assistant Phil Johnson during their postgame conversation with general manager Kevin O’Connor on Wednesday night.
“I’ll go with him and I came with him,” Johnson, 69, declared on Thursday.
At the request of O’Connor and the club owners, the two men decided to spend the night before making their selections.
Sloan said that he slept better than he had in weeks, and nothing had changed in the morning. When asked what he would do next, he replied he was unsure and that he anticipated being a “dizzy duck” for some time.
According to Jazz CEO Greg Miller, he attempted to persuade Sloan not to retire.
“I want to make it clear that nobody pushed Jerry or Phil out,” Miller stated. “For as long as I can remember, I have liked and respected Jerry… Although I shall mourn him, I will live a long time to gain from the lessons he taught me.”
Tyrone Corbin, an assistant for the Jazz, was named the next coach, and team representatives clarified that his name does not include the word “interim” next to it.
Corbin, 48, described it as a “bittersweet” occasion.
“While it’s a great opportunity for me, it’s a bitter moment for me because I will miss these guys a lot.”
The actions followed Utah’s heartbreaking 91-86 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, their tenth in the previous 14 games.
When guard Deron Williams called a play on the floor that differed from the play Sloan called from the sideline during the home loss, two people with knowledge of the matter told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein that Sloan reacted violently.
According to insiders, that resulted in an angry fight at halftime, and Sloan and O’Connor had a private discussion after the game.
That wasn’t the last straw, according to Sloan, the coach with the longest tenure among the four major professional sports.
However, a source emphasized that Sloan’s relationship with Williams has been worsening and that the play-calling controversy was only one instance among other flare-ups in recent weeks.
Reports that Williams had stated it was “me or Sloan” were untrue, according to O’Connor, and unfair to Williams.
After postponing his postgame news conference for about thirty minutes, Sloan made a hint that something was in the works.
In a 1320 KFAN-AM interview, Williams denied giving the squad any sort of ultimatum.
“I don’t want to say we’ve had a rocky relationship, but we’ve had our disagreements over the years, probably no more than any other coach and player have arguments,” Williams stated. We got into a fight because, I believe, we are both very stubborn. However, we always had the will to succeed.”
In addition to indicating that he would wait to make any official announcements until after the current season, Sloan just signed a one-year contract extension that will keep him through the 2011–12 campaign.
After the loss to Chicago, the only other team Sloan has coached, the team finished at 31-23 from a 15-5 start. Sloan was 94-121 in nearly three seasons with the Bulls. The Jazz are just 17-11 at home this season, and Sunday was their third straight loss in Chicago.
Despite the fact that Sloan joined the Jazz in 1983, initially as a scout, he is aware of the precarious nature of professional sports.
He stated as much before Wednesday’s game.
Instead of speaking from behind a podium, he has developed the habit of holding his pregame news conferences at EnergySolutions Arena in front of a huge plastic trash can.
He quips, “You never know when you might be in it,” on Wednesday. “I stand here for that reason. What you get is what you take.”
Phil Jackson, the Lakers coach, was sorry to see him go.
Jackson remarked, “Well, I think we’re all kind of saddened.” “A key player who has contributed significantly to his team’s success over many years is leaving our lineup. He’s got a plan. He generally expresses his desire to play ball the proper way.
“As a colleague, we’ll miss him.”
When coach Frank Layden left on November 19, 1984, Sloan started working with the Jazz as a scout. On December 9, 1988, Sloan was named the sixth coach in team history.
With his victory over Oklahoma City on November 7, he became the only coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games with a single team. The Chicago Bulls were Sloan’s other winning team from 1979 to 1982.
“Jerry Sloan is the epitome of everything that is great about team sports,” NBA commissioner David Stern stated in a statement. “A lifelong basketball player, Jerry was just as determined to succeed while coaching the Utah Jazz as he was when he was an All-Star guard for the Chicago Bulls. Throughout his more than two decades as a coach, he instilled in his players the belief that the team comes first. His leadership and remarkable capacity to inspire his players to surrender their own games for the good of the team were his most remarkable attributes.”
There have been 245 coaching changes in the NBA during Sloan’s tenure leading the Jazz; the Los Angeles Clippers have had 13 of them alone. Additionally, five of the current NBA teams—Charlotte, Memphis, Toronto, Orlando, and Minnesota—did not even exist when Sloan took over in Utah.
In terms of NBA wins (1,221), he behind only Don Nelson (1,335) and Lenny Wilkens (1,332) all-time.
In addition, Sloan is one of just three coaches in NBA history to have a winning record for more than 15 straight seasons. The other two, Pat Riley and Phil Jackson, both have 19 years old.
Over the course of 11 NBA seasons and 755 games, Sloan averaged 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while playing with the Bulls. Sloan, dubbed “The Original Bull” due to his 1966 expansion draft selection, was a two-time NBA All-Star (1967, 1969) renowned for his tenacity and ferocity. Throughout his career, he was the first player in NBA history to average more than seven rebounds and two steals a game.
Throughout his career, Sloan recorded two triple-doubles. His career terminated abruptly in 1976 due to a knee injury.
Only two weeks have passed since Jeff Fisher, the professional coach with the second-longest tenure, departed the Tennessee Titans following a 6–10 campaign.
Marc Stein, a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com, contributed to this article. Information from The Associated Press and Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com was also utilized.
