Jazz coach Jerry Sloan keeps rolling along, passing milestone after milestone on his way to a likely spot in the Hall of Fame.
In the past three years, while the Jazz were re-emerging as a Western Conference contender, Sloan reached four notable longevity-related milestones in a business not known for job security. When the Jazz scored a 101-79 win over Dallas on Dec. 11, 2006, it was the 1,000th win of Sloan's head coaching career, including a 2?-year stint with the Chicago Bulls in the early 1980s.
When the Jazz beat the Bulls on Jan. 20, 2007, the 95-85 victory was the 1,010th of Sloan's career, moving him past Larry Brown for fourth place on the all-time list of winningest coaches.
This season, when the Jazz scored a 104-97 win over Oklahoma City on Nov. 7, it was Sloan's 1,000th victory as the head coach in Utah. Boston's Red Auerbach is a distant second on the all-time list for wins with the same franchise. He had 795 victories with the Celtics from 1950-66.
Less than a month later, Sloan celebrated his 20th anniversary as coach of the Jazz with a 99-96 win against Minnesota. Hired on Dec. 9, 1988, when Frank Layden resigned, Sloan is the longest-tenured head coach or manager in any of the four major professional sports.
According to Layden, picking Sloan as his replacement was a no-brainer: "I saw how he loved the game and how he related to the players and how the players respected him."
After Utah beat the Thunder for Sloan's 1,000th win with the Jazz, Kyle Korver said, "It's an amazing thing. A thousand, that's a huge number. ... I'm sure someday he's going to be proud of it. But you know how he is. He's not going to show it."
Oklahoma City coach P.J. Carlesimo said, "It's a tribute to him and all the players and coaches who have worked for him. When it's all said and done, he's absolutely one of the best in our profession." Alt Heads:
Sloan keeps rolling along
