Rarely, if ever, is his name included in the same legendary coaching brethren as visionaries such as Red Auerbach or Red Holzman, although he is sometimes mentioned with contemporaries Pat Riley, Phil Jackson and Gregg Popovich.
Jerry Sloan keeps scaling improbable mountain-tops, personally and professionally. The Utah Jazz coach doesn't take himself too seriously and keeps life in perspective. At 66, he is the longest-tenured head coach in major sports. He has no plans to retire. "It's the closest thing to being able to play," he says. "Sounds corny, but Basketball is something I've been blessed with."
Since he was hired in 1988, there have been 221 head coaching changes in the NBA. Every team has made at least two hires -- except Utah. This season, the Jazz have played mostly without injured star point guard Deron Williams, who returned Wednesday. Yet they are 10-6.
A winning record would be the 20th time in 21 seasons for Sloan's Jazz teams. All but three advanced to the playoffs.
"As a player, he brought his hard hat and lunch pail every day -- that's what he expects," forward Carlos Boozer says.
Sloan has seen many changes. Power forwards are extinct. Player tattoos are de rigueur.
Jerry Sloan is ... Jerry Sloan.
"People ask me, 'Is he as intense as he was?'" longtime assistant Phil Johnson says. "Yes."
This month, Sloan won his 1,000th game with the Jazz, the only NBA coach to reach that peak with the same franchise. The milestone left him more than 200 victories ahead of the man for whom the league's coach of the year award is named. Yet, Sloan never has won the Red Auerbach Trophy.
"I don't worry about those things," he says. "The tough part is when you think your team is better than what you're getting out of them. If they play hard and don't win, I can live with that. I'm not going to jump off a building."
Sloan's lack of a championship ring cannot be considered a failure as much as it is a case of bad timing; namely, running into the stampeding Chicago Bulls in the late 1990s, the team he distinguished himself with as a defensive demon in the '60s and '70s.
If the hard-nosed, salty-tongued coach is irked by any snubs, you won't hear it. He is thankful for the unwavering support of owner Larry Miller, hard-working assistants and some great players over his 24 seasons in the NBA as a head coach.
Sloan has faced many setbacks, including losing his dad at 4 and watching his wife of 41 years battle cancer and die in 2006. Professionally, he lost back-to-back NBA Finals against the Bulls, who retired his No.4 jersey after Sloan retired in 1976, one year before tragedy struck his alma mater. A plane carrying the University of Evansville Basketball team crashed, killing all 29 aboard.
"That was a really, really sad thing," he says. "And, this game, as far as everyday life is concerned, can do without me. I've tried to not let it just consume me. They can't cut off my arms and legs, regardless of anything."
When the season is over, Sloan, remarried, retreats to the sanity of southern Illinois, where he still makes his offseason home. His avocation is restoring old farm tractors -- he owns about 75 -- on his 2,500-acre farm.
"I just like to see if I can get 'em to start," he says. "It's kind of interesting. Sometimes, they're as contrary as all get out. Sometimes, they click right over.
"I'm just an amateur foolin' around with 'em. Everybody's got to have a hobby. On the farm, there's always something to do that, if someone misses a free throw, it won't bother you."
