HOOPSWORLD | Basketball News & NBA Rumors

HOOPSWORLD’s Eric Pincus:

It was always great to see Jerry Sloan come to Los Angeles. The first place I’d see him would be before the media session in the Chick Hearn Press Room taking part in the pregame buffet.

Jerry was the only coach who’d take advantage of the $7 meal, although I once saw Chris Andersen many years ago before he had so many tattoos.

Sloan was always honest and straight to the point. He kind of jumped on questions before you completed them (as Lamar Odom is prone to do), not always answering what was intended.

Whether the Jazz won or lost, there was no nonsense and no temper, although he’d certainly lost his cool more than once at a bad call during a game.

Jerry was walking basketball history. I’ll miss seeing him a handful of times a year and wish him well in life after basketball.

HOOPSWORLD’s Yannis Koutroupis:

It’s a shame to see the great Jerry Sloan’s career come to an end like this. He always said he could wake up any day and decide that he was done, but the circumstances had to be pretty severe for him to step away mid-season. That’s just not Coach Sloan. However, it doesn’t take away from his legacy one single bit. He never won the Coach of the Year award or an NBA championship, but he’ll always remain one of the best ever in the business. He’ll be missed by everyone, especially this current group of Utah Jazz players.

HOOPSWORLD’s Susan Bible:

My first reaction to the news of Jerry Sloan’s retirement was disbelief. Wasn’t it just on Tuesday that I wrote a headline for HOOPSWORLD about his one-year contract extension? After I processed it, I felt a mixure of both sadness that he departs so abruptly having never won a ring or Coach of the Year honors (which is ludicrous) and respect for one of the finest basketball coaches this game has ever seen…1,221 wins in the NBA says it all.

Favorite Sloan quote: "Size doesn’t make any difference; heart is what makes a difference."

HOOPSWORLD’s Alex Raskin:

I frankly don’t care if Jerry Sloan didn’t win an NBA Title or Coach of the Year. Had he been coaching Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, things like that would have been different. What stays with me is how honest he was. If you asked Sloan why his team allowed a lot of points in the paint on a particular night, he would tell you "we didn’t put in the effort." Basketball was that simple to Sloan. He had teams with varying degrees of talent, but because the effort was usually there, he had only one losing season in Utah. He found uses for players like Byron Russell, Antoine Carr and Chris Morris. Yeah, Carr and Morris were once successful with other teams, but Sloan knew how to rejuvenate their careers. Most of all, when the NBA became a battle of isolation plays in the late 90s and early 2000s, the Jazz ran a structured offense that was predicated on getting the best shot possible. The NBA is returning that style now, but for awhile, Sloan was the only coach who was doing it.

HOOPSWORLD’s Larry Coon:

In a league where coaches’ offices practically come with revolving doors, Jerry Sloan was an anomaly — a constant. Like Pop with the Spurs or Chick Hearn with the Lakers, he WAS the franchise, embodying and personifying everything they stood for. More than Deron and AK-47, and before them Stockton and Malone, the Jazz were HIS team, and did things his way — the same way he did them back when he played. In the end what stands out are his remarkable consistency and hard-nosed work ethic. It’s the end of an era for the NBA — one of the last of the true old school coaches is moving on. 

HOOPSWORLD’s Tommy Beer:

I’ll start here: I think it’s safe to say Jerry Sloan has neither a Facebook account nor a Twitter handle; and for some reason I find that somehow refreshing. In this world of schemes and instant feedback and a continuous 24/7 news cycle, Sloan believed in things such as an honest handshake (he and former Utah Owner Larry Miller agreed to contracts without involving lawyers or agents) and the beauty that could be found in a well-executed pick-and-roll. Sloan is old-school in the truest sense of the word; A ‘throwback’ if there ever was one. Yet he remained astoundingly successful, even if a majority of his players tended to communicate 140 characters at a time. And the NBA is a better place because he chose to spend so much of his life involved in the league.

HOOPSWORLD’s Mark Nugent:

Jerry Sloan is one of the all-time greats. Every game he had his players going all out and he got more out of his teams than most coaches could have. One would think his fiery personality would wear on players, but it doesn’t seem to. I love the way he adapted styles based upon the personnel that he had. With Stockton and Malone it was constant pick-and-rolls with the occasional fast break. When Deron Williams came to Utah his teams started pushing the tempo a bit more and played a much faster-paced game. They still did pick-and-rolls in the half court, but only if the fast break failed first. Not every coach is willing to change their style of play, but Sloan seemed to do everything he could to give his team the best chance of winning every game. The most surprising thing about Sloan is he never won the Coach of the Year award, and one the great things about him is he doesn’t appear to care about those individual achievements. 

HOOPSWORLD’s Alex Kennedy:

After hearing about Jerry Sloan’s meeting with management on Wednesday night, I knew something had to be wrong. But even as rumors swirled, I never imaged him resigning. I didn’t think the situation was bad enough that the game would lose one of its greatest coaches. It had to happen eventually, but the timing still caught me off guard. After spending twenty-two years in Utah, Sloan had a remarkable career and watched as 245 other coaching changes occurred during that stretch. Anybody who has watched one of Sloan’s teams knows of the excellent job the tough coach does in preparing his group to play. I hope he’s able to coach again, simply because there are very few men who deserve a championship or Coach of the Year honors more than him. His resignation was a shock to me, but hopefully this isn’t the last we hear of Jerry Sloan.

HOOPSWORLD’s Lang Greene:

Still somewhat surprised an old school guy like Jerry Sloan resigned midseason while his team was in the thick of the Western Conference playoff chase, but putting all the initial shock aside how can you not respect everything he’s given to the game? In a day and age where 50% of current NBA coaches have been with their clubs two years or less, Sloan served as a consistent presence in a business full of blatant inconsistency.

Let’s be clear, his sudden exit will in no way, shape or form diminish his already-established Hall of Fame legacy. They say legendary players turn good coaches into elite sideline generals … which may be a true to an extent, but Sloan won with Stockton and Malone as young men, sustained the victories as the duo became grizzled old vets with diminishing skills, made respectable starters out of Greg Ostertag and Bryon Russell, gave Deron Williams the opportunity to flourish out of the gate as a rookie and developed hidden gems like Wesley Matthews. How Sloan never won Coach of the Year honors with only one losing season during his 22-year tenure with the Jazz is beyond me … Respect earned. Respect given. Period.

HOOPSWORLD’s Stephen Brotherston:

The loss of Jerry Sloan signals the end of an era. Perhaps the last team in the league where the coach had more influence than players has succumbed to the players-run league. He will be missed.

HOOPSWORLD’s Luke Byrnes:

Jerry Sloan’s retirement was like a punch in the gut. I’ve never been a fan of the Utah Jazz but it is difficult to want anything but success for Sloan, who has been one of the most underrated and underappreciated coaches of not only his time, but all-time. All he has done is win basketball games. And, I always felt like if I cheered for anyone but the Jazz, Sloan would kick my ass.

HOOPSWORLD’s Jason Fleming:

Seeing Jerry Sloan step down midseason is a sad thing. No coach I have ever had the pleasure to interview has at once seemed so bound and determined for perfection while at the same time being more than willing to answer any (intelligent) question sent his way. Coach Sloan represents integrity in every way and he will truly be missed by the NBA family.