Jerry Sloan: 20 Years

One of my idols, Jerry Sloan, became the first NBA coach to win 1,000 games with a single franchise earlier this season. Along with being the longest-tenured coach in any of the 4 major professional sports leagues, he's set an NBA record for coaching tenure with a single team, and, to me, his career really is one of the best stories in sports.

A farm boy from Southern Illinois, Sloan went to play basketball at the University of Evansville because he was too homesick to take offers from bigger schools that were further away.  He went on to play for 11 years in the NBA before being hired to replace his former coach, only to resign 5 days later (ironically, and tragically, the entire team was killed a year later in a plane crash).  After a short stint with the Chicago Bulls, he worked his way up through the Utah Jazz organization to eventually replace then head coach Frank Layden. 

Needless to say, it's worked out pretty well. Since Sloan was named head coach of the Jazz, there have been 223 coaching changes in the NBA (4 this year alone), and 12 changes each by the New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets.  In that time the Jazz have racked up two NBA Finals appearances, six conferece finals appearances, seven division titles, and 19 winning seasons. Toughness, loyalty, intensity, tenacity, and a tremendous work ethic have resulted in Sloan being universally recognized as one of the greatest coaches of all time. He displayed all of these traits as a player, and continues to demand the same from his players to this day, which is why he's accumulated more wins than all but 3 coaches in the history of the NBA.

Unbelievably, he's never won a coach of the year award, mostly because of the fact that the Jazz are always expected to be good. But this apparent lack of respect does nothing but highlight what's so great about Jerry Sloan. He really doesn't care about awards. Although I'm sure it kills him that he's never won a ring, what he really cares about, and demands, is the will to compete. He cares about coming to work every day, putting your hard hat on, and giving it your best. No matter what. He doesn't worry about media attention, circumstances, or odds. In 2003, after one Hall of Famer retired and another relocated to Los Angeles, some speculated that the Jazz were about to become the worst team in NBA history. Many thought Sloan should have walked away at that point, but he stayed, continued to go to work every day, and led the Jazz to a 42-40 record, barely missing the playoffs for the first time in over 15 years. I think that season, more than any other, displays the character of Jerry Sloan.

Tonight marks the 20th anniversary of Sloan taking over as the Jazz's head coach. They weren't playing at home; there were no ceremonies. That was probably a relief to Sloan. Fittingly enough, the Jazz went out tonight and found a way to win on the road, despite their all-star sitting on the bench with an injury and their best player struggling with a bum ankle. My first inclination was that Jerry would find this to be the ultimate tribute.  But that's probably way off.  I'm sure that, other than some reflection, Coach Sloan just saw it as another day, and another opportunity to clock in and earn his paycheck.  But don't take my word for it;  here's what the man himself had to say when asked for his thoughts on the milestone:

"I don't need any ceremonies... save those for when you're dead."  

I'd say that pretty much sums it up.