By Jordan Long
There is sad news from the NBA world. Former Head Coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan, has passed away at the age of 78. He is the winningest coach in the history of the Utah Jazz franchise. Let’s take a look back at Sloan’s history in basketball.
Sloan attended the University of Evansville. He played for two seasons from 1963 to 1965. In those years, Sloan averaged 15.7 points and added 13.1 rebounds per game. With them, they won the Division 2 Basketball Championship twice, 1964 and 1965.
After the 1965 season, Sloan decided to go pro. The Baltimore Bullets, who are now the Washington Wizards, selected him with the 4th overall pick. Sloan stayed there for one year before being traded to the Chicago Bulls. Sloan suited up in a Bulls’ uniform for 10 seasons. During his NBA career he made 2 All-Star teams. Sloan averaged 14 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Chicago retired his number 4 for his play in Chicago.
Once Sloan’s NBA career was finished, he went into coaching as an assistant coach with the Chicago Bulls for the 1977-78 season. The Bulls went 40-42. They let go of Head Coach Ed Badger after 2 years. The Bulls were 84-80 under Badger and made the playoffs in 1977. Chicago promoted Sloan to Head Coach.
Sloan spent 3 years as the Head Coach of the Bulls. Under him, the Bulls were a disappointing 94-121, a winning percentage of .437. Chicago advanced to the postseason once in 1981. They knocked off the New York Knicks in the 1st-round before being swept by the Boston Celtics in the 2nd-round. The Bulls let Sloan go 51 games into the 1982 season. Chicago was 19-32 when they fired him.
Sloan wasn’t out of a job long. He joined Head Coach Frank Layden’s staff as an assistant coach of the Utah Jazz. Sloan kept that role from 1985 to 1988. The Jazz fired Layden 17 games into the 1988-89 season. At the time, the Jazz were 11-6. Sloan took over and guided the Jazz to a 40-25 record. They reached the postseason but were swept in the 1st-round by the Golden State Warriors.
The Jazz decided Sloan had done enough to be the Head Coach. Sloan stayed with the Jazz until he stepped down during the 2011 season or a total of 23 years. Sloan coached the Jazz to an impressive record of 1,127-682, an outstanding winning percentage of .623. The Jazz advanced to the postseason 19 times. They didn’t win an NBA championship but went to the NBA finals twice, 1997, and 1998 only to be beaten by the Chicago Bulls.
Sloan won a total of 1,221 games in his NBA Head Coaching career, ranking 4th all-time in NBA history. Sloan was one of the top coaches to ever coach in the NBA and was voted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. Sloan will be missed and be remembered as the top coach in Jazz history.
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