Wednesday, 11 December 2024

Jerry Sloan

Contest: The US Athletic Hall of Fame - Coaches 2024
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Sport(s): Basketball
Statistics: 1,221-803 NBA Record
Member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame
“1,223” Retired by the Utah Jazz

*2 NBA All-Star Games (1967 & 1968)
*4 First Team All-Defensive Selections (1969, 1972, 1974 & 1975)
*2 ICC Player of the Year Awards (1963 & 1965)
*Number retired by the Chicago Bulls
*Number retired by the University of Evansville

*As a player
As a player, Jerry Sloan played most of his career with the Chicago Bulls, where he was a two-time All-Star and four-time First Team All-Defensive selection. After Sloan retired, he would become an assistant coach before he was promoted to be the head coach in 1979. Sloan was only Chicago's head coach for two years and change, going to playoffs in his second year, but axed early in his third due to the Bulls' poor start.

Sloan then joined the Utah Jazz as a scout before again becoming an assistant coach in 1985. Three years later, Sloan was named to the head coaching position, which he held until 2011.

Sloan, who was a tenacious player, was equally so as Utah's head coach. Blessed with Karl Malone and John Stockton, Sloan brought the Jazz to 15 consecutive post-seasons. Utah reached the finals twice, 1997 and 1998, but was defeated both times by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. After a three-year drought, Sloan took Utah to four more playoffs and would have had a fifth, but he and his assistant Phil Johnson abruptly resigned for reasons that are still not completely clear.

Sloan did return to Utah as a consultant, but he never coached again.

Sloan's 1,221 wins were the third most at the time of his exit from coaching, and he is one of only two coaches to have 1,000 wins with one team.

We are proud to nominate Jerry Sloan for the United States Athletic Hall of Fame.

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