One-on-One with Jerry Sloan

Spanning a career that has lasted 29 years in the NBA, Jerry Sloan undoubtedly enters one of his most challenging seasons as a head coach. No longer leading a roster that has traditionally been filled with veterans, Sloan’s team has been transformed into group of inexperience and youth.

But the former Evansville graduate looks to be well prepared for the job. Utahjazz.com recently sat down with the man who has the longest tenure as a coach in professional sports, and as Sloan’s history shows, he looks to be the perfect man to lead the Jazz into a new era.

utahjazz.com - When you entered high school, you were only 5'6", how did your height effect your development as a player?

Jerry Sloan - “It was blessing for me because I played guard most of the time and handled the ball a great deal of the time and I think that helped me progress as a player. Even as I got taller, and as I grew, I was still able to handle the ball and kind of grew up with the idea that I’d have a little different look at the floor.”

utahjazz.com - After high school, you enrolled at the University of Illinois to play basketball, but you left shortly after and eventually transferred to Evansville. What made you do so?

Jerry Sloan - “I just was having a very difficult time getting adjusted. I didn’t know if I wanted to be in school and didn’t really know what was going on to be honest about it. I went back home and worked in an oil field. After doing that I decided I didn’t want to do that the rest of my life, I decided I’d go back to school, so I called the people in Evansville and enrolled over there.”

utahjazz.com - Did you ever think that you had the ability to play professional basketball?

Jerry Sloan - “Never though about it. I just played and had fun. I was drafted at the end of my junior year since I was red-shirt eligible. I was drafted by Baltimore that year in the third round and that’s about the first time I figured I might have a chance to play at this level but I never really watched it because I was more interested to play where I was.”

utahjazz.com - What was it that made you decide to stay at Evansville for your senior year, rather than join the Baltimore Bullets?

Jerry Sloan - “I wanted to go back and finish my degree. I was afraid that if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to finish it. If I tried to play ball and something happened and I didn’t make it I wanted to make sure I had my degree first so I could into teaching or whatever I’d end up doing.”

utahjazz.com - During your time with the Bulls, some of your teams were described as tough, no-nonsense, and fundamental. Do you see these same traits in the team you will lead now?

Jerry Sloan - “To some extent I think there are some similarities there. There were different types of players. The team we have here is pretty young. But (in Chicago) we played well together, we played hard together - we played every day.”

utahjazz.com - Do you think that coaches, who you played against in the NBA, have their own playing styles reflected in the way they coach?

Jerry Sloan - “I think for the most part. Except what happens in this business so frequently is that four or five games a team starts to struggle and people start talking about firing the coach. I’ve seen a lot of coaches fired over the years that I’ve been here. That destroys a team. We’ve had great support, Larry Miller hasn’t taken that route so we’ve been real blessed with that”

utahjazz.com - After the Jazz lost game five to Dallas in the 2000 NBA Playoffs, you said in your press conference after the game that there was a lot more to life than just basketball. You acknowledged that the loss was disappointing but reiterated that basketball was not your life. At what point of your career as player or coach did you realize this?

Jerry Sloan - “I had a job in Evansville for five days (Sloan resigned shortly after accepting the position). I took a head coaching job there and the guy that replaced me was killed in a plane crash with all the players. That probably changed my life as far as basketball is concerned. You can work hard and do the best you can but when it’s all said and done and the day’s over, there isn’t anymore you can do. You do the best you can, you go home and if you win - fine. If you lose you have to accept that and go on about your life. You can’t be miserable about something like that. It’s not a matter of life and death. I think I’m a hard worker, I’ve always worked hard but I think when the day’s over I have to be able to try to get away from it so it doesn’t drive me crazy.”

utahjazz.com - So if you took every win and loss home you, do you think you could still coach?

Jerry Sloan - “I would never last.”

utahjazz.com - What is your favorite part about coaching?

Jerry Sloan - “I enjoy seeing guys succeed, seeing them get better a little bit at a time and work hard. Those are the types of things I really enjoy watching. Seeing the guys that have the ability but won’t work hard enough to make themselves better, that’s the frustrating part of it, but still in all you still have the same desire to see them succeed as well and sometimes they do.”

utahjazz.com - Are there aspects about the NBA that have changed that you do not favor?

Jerry Sloan - “There’s been a lot of things that have changed, the three point shot, zone defense, all those things. I never have been great at wanting to see a lot of change but I think some of those things have been good for basketball and as long as it’s good for basketball I’m in favor of that. This game has gotten to be a lot more entertainment than just pure basketball. I guess I’ve always enjoyed just the basketball part of it, not the entertainment part of it.”