When Jerry Sloan took over as the head coach of the Utah Jazz, Ronald Reagan was president. 40 current NBA players weren't even born yet. NBA teams have made a combined 250 coaching changes since Sloan took control of the Jazz. No team in NBA history has had a coach longer than the Jazz have had Sloan.
These are just a few of the remarkable facts about Jerry Sloan's tenure with the Jazz. Facts that may never been topped.
Patience is a word that just doesn't exist in sports these days. Mike Brown was the NBA coach of the year in 2009, and was fired the next year when Cleveland didn't reach the NBA Finals. Sloan has been a winner his entire career, but never could bring the Jazz a title. But that didn't make the Miller family trigger-happy. Maybe it's because they are more a family than a corporation, but the Millers have shown loyalty rarely seen in sports, and Sloan appreciated every day of it.
Of course Sloan wanted to win an NBA championship. But the fact that he never did doesn't define him as a coach. He won't simply be remembered as the greatest coach never to win it all. No, he'll just be remembered as one of the greatest coaches of all time.
Yes, he was stubborn, unwavering and brutally honest. And some players and fans grew tired of him. But Sloan was never going to change, and that may have been both his greatest attribute and the source of his downfall. But that's also why so many people loved him.
Whether it was his relationship with Deron Williams or that his passion for the game just wasn't there anymore, Sloan is leaving on his own terms. And that's what everyone ever wanted for him. A true maverick walking away when he felt the time was right.
Some Jazz fans may think Sloan is a quitter for leaving mid-season. But remember, he always said that one day he'd wake up and just not want to coach anymore. It's just that nobody believed him. Afterall, what else was he going to do? But that was just Jerry being his usual humble, take nothing for granted self. Well, that one day finally arrived. And we still don't believe it.
Coach, there will never be another one like you.
