Where did this come from? Via Yahoo! Sports…
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—A person with knowledge of the situation says Jerry Sloan is stepping down as head coach of the Utah Jazz.
The person also told The Associated Press on Thursday that longtime assistant Phil Johnson also will resign. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the resignations have not yet been formally announced.
Salt Lake City television station KSL first reported Sloan’s pending resignation.
The team has scheduled a 3 p.m. press conference Thursday for what it called a significant announcement.
Link.
Remember, Utah runs on Mountain Time, so that 3 PM press conference is at 5 PM Eastern. This news comes as a complete surprise to me. I hadn’t heard a word about Sloan leaving the Jazz until about an hour ago, and I’m still in disbelief that he’s calling it quits in the middle of the season. According to this update (also from Yahoo!), the decision was made on the spot when he and Deron Williams had a conflict last night…
After a 23-season Hall-of-Fame run as coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan abruptly resigned his job on Thursday.
Sloan, 68, had agreed to a one-year contract extension in the past week but things publicly turned late Wednesday after a long meeting with Jazz general manager Kevin O’Connor following the team’s loss to the Chicago Bulls in Salt Lake City. Sloan and his longtime assistant, Phil Johnson, resigned together on Thursday. The Jazz planned a 5 p.m. ET news conference to officially make the announcement.
“He decided right there in halftime that he was done,” a league source told Yahoo! Sports. “He felt like ownership was listening more to Williams than they were to him anymore. He was done.”
One source said Sloan had become tired of Williams “blaming everything on everyone else.” Still, Williams, who can become a free agent in the summer of 2012, has remained the Jazz’s best and most consistent player after the departure of several key teammates. Williams has always had a reputation for wanting to win badly and being a strong leader.
Assistant coach Ty Corbin, who is expected to be a candidate for other head-coaching jobs next offseason, is believed to be the heir apparent. His agent, Steve Kauffman, was still waiting to hear from Jazz officials on Thursday afternoon about the naming of Corbin as the interim coach.
Link.
Well… this certainly isn’t how you’d hope to see a guy like Sloan go out, but I’m glad his resignation wasn’t forced by the organization. I would’ve lost all respect for the Jazz if they fired a guy who’s been coaching their team for 23 years in the middle of a winning season. Man, it’s hard to imagine anyone else coaching in Utah… Sloan has been around since the year I was born. It’s a damn shame that the guy never won a COY award.
This is just pure speculation on my part, but you have to wonder…. could Sloan take the place of Phil Jackson in LA next season? I suppose that at age 68 a decison to retire wouldn’t be a surprising one, but it’s not like he quit his job because he’s tired of coaching. It seems to me that he quit due to some issues with Utah’s owners and personnel. Assuming Sloan does want to coach more NBA basketball, I’m sure he’ll receive offers from a variety of teams, but an offer from LA would have to intrigue him.
So my picks for todays NBA games are Cha, Por, Orl, Minn, SA, Cle, Mia, Mem, NY (Maybe Kobe has a bad game) and Utah (F a Jerry Sloan)