The gritty guard who became a coaching legend
For five decades, Jerry Sloan was a hard-charging force in basketball. Drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1966 for the franchise’s inaugural season, the defensive-minded guard became known for his tough brand of play, chasing down every ball even if it meant a ripped muscle or a broken nose. When injuries ended his playing career in 1976, the “Original Bull” took his no-nonsense style to the sidelines and spent three seasons as Chicago’s head coach and another 23 with the Utah Jazz. He would clock 1,221 regular-season wins— making him the fourth-winningest head coach in NBA history. His Utah teams never won the NBA Finals, losing in 1997 and ’98 to Michael Jordan’s Bulls, but he remained fiercely proud of their grit. “There’s something to be said for coming back after you lose,” Sloan said in 2002, “for putting every ounce of energy into achieving something after you’ve fallen short.”
Born to a farming family in McLeansboro, Ill., Sloan was 4 years old when his father died, said The New York Times. He joined his nine older siblings “in helping their mother with the chores,” and when not tending corn or cattle, he
Jerry Sloan
honed his basketball skills on dirt courts. An all-state basketball player in high school, the 6-foot-5 farm boy landed at Evansville College in Indiana and made “a name for himself as a tenacious, rabid defender,” said TheRinger.com. In his decade with the Bulls, the two-time All-Star helped push the team to its first 50-win season, its first division title, and eight playoff appearances before knee problems cut his career short. “Sloan launched his NBA coaching career as an assistant with the Bulls in 1978,” said The Washington Post, “rising to the head job one year later.” Fired during the third season—having racked 94 wins and 121 losses—Sloan arrived in Utah as an assistant in 1984 and became head coach in 1988. The Jazz was an “unaccomplished franchise.” But Sloan coached the team to 15 consecutive playoff appearances, from 1989 to 2003, “with an offense constructed around the pick-and-roll partnership of Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone” and a defense molded in his own tough image. Despite these successes, Sloan—who resigned in 2011—was never voted NBA Coach of the Year. Famously humble, he didn’t seem to care. “There’s a lot more to basketball,” said Sloan, “than individual awards.”
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