Mad respect for coach Sloan....he got the most out of the talent he had to work with ...great, great basketball mind...also as a player famous for perfecting the James Harden flop....as a sidenote...RIP
A truly fantastic coach, and great competitor. Out of all the opposing coaches we ever went up against, i respected him the most. He was genuine. A huge loss for the Utah Jazz Family, and the Basketball Community. Rest In Peace.
It's been going on for years....our generation born in the late 40s and early 50s produced a ton of entertainers and artists....I realized I've outlived Robin Williams and David Bowie already...now I'm trying to outlive Keith Richards....wish me luck! Almost everyday some famous person from my generation dies....I think my parents went through the same thing watching Sinatra and those cats die as they became seniors...it comes with the ageing territory I guess
As I told BG, I got to see Sloan play 3-4 times the first two years of the Blazer’s existence. From the vantage point of almost 50 years, I view Sloan (and Van Lier) as tough, gritty and smart players. As a Blazer fan I thought they were dirtier than fuck (Stockton had a terrific teacher in that regard). That said, Sloan was always fun to watch as a player. And he coached a beautiful (if rough and tumble) game. One of the all time, all around NBA greats.
I was going to say the same thing. Possibly the meanest or toughest backcourt in the history of the NBA.
Damn, rough stretch for Jazz fans. Gobert/Mitchell, Bogdanovich, Ingles, Malone sitting out the Last Dance, and now Sloan.
Good Sloan story. From 1996-1998 I worked for the Golden State Warriors fresh out of college. We were eating before the game in the media room the night we played the Jazz. My buddy and I had the same job and we were sitting there and i thought it would be just hilarrrrirous to loosen the top of the salt shaker and wait for someone to sit down and pour massive amounts of salt on their dinner. So we sat and ate, and waited...then Sloan sat down. He says nothing and then grabs the salt shaker. This is the last person you want to do this. He was pissed. I think he said ‘mutherfucking goddammit’ did you do this? I said “uh. No”. He says ‘so you guys didn’t use the salt?” For some FUCKING reason my buddy says ‘yes’. Sloan says ‘hm. Well if you used it and it didn’t gush out and it did for me you must have done that’. He stands up and says “I can’t wait to kick your ass tonight”. One of the best experiences of my life. And terrifying. The man was intimidating.