Sloan It Down
Jerry Sloan resigned as coach of the Utah Jazz on Thursday at a news conference after just signing a one-year contract agreement with the Jazz earlier this week.
Jerry Sloan is third all-time in NBA coaching wins and tops among active NBA coaches as of Thursday.Sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that Jazz officials spent Thursday morning trying to convince Sloan to change his mind and stay on as coach, but there was no budging from the famously hard-nosed coach after Wednesday night's events.
The 68-year-old Sloan is the longest-tenured head coach in any of the four major sports.
On Wednesday night, Sloan kept reporters waiting more than half an hour after Utah's loss to the Chicago Bulls as he met with his assistants and general manager Kevin O'Connor. And the Jazz announced that Thursday's practice had been abruptly canceled.
Two sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Sloan reacted angrily during Wednesday night's home loss when guard Deron Williamscalled his own play on the floor different from the play Sloan called from the sideline.
That led to an emotional dispute at halftime, sources said, which was followed by Sloan's closed-door meeting with O'Connor after the game.
But one source stressed that the play-calling flap was just one incident among a number of flare-ups in recent weeks, indicating Sloan's relationship with Williams has been deteriorating.
This is Sloan's 23rd season as Utah's coach. He started with the Jazz as a scout in 1983-84 season and one year later was an assistant under Frank Layden. He led Utah to the NBA Finals twice, losing to the Bulls both times.
Sloan, who succeeded Layden in 1988, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 2009.
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