Didn’t we all pretty much know this is how it went down?
There has always been a bit of a cloud of mystery around Jerry Sloan’s sudden mid-season departure from the Utah Jazz a couple years back (followed by Deron Williams getting traded away a few weeks later). Sloan and D-Will were at loggerheads often enough, that always seemed at the core of it.
Utah Jazz owner and CEO Greg Miller confirmed that in some detail for the first time this week, speaking with the Associated Press.
Miller said it started when Sloan and Deron Williams got into an argument at halftime about the final play before the half. Sloan walked away from the team toward his office and past Miller, saying: “I’d like to have a word with you after the game.”
Williams shot back, “Yeah, I want to be in the meeting too.”
“Do you want me to quit right now,” Sloan replied.
After the game (a Jazz loss to the Bulls) Miller said he went into Sloan’s office to have that meeting.
“Jerry, I know this is frustrating,” Miller said. “But we’re just going to have to muscle through it.”
“I’ve been at this a long time and there is nothing left in the tank,” Miller recalled Sloan saying. “I think I’m done.”
“C’mon, Jerry,” Miller said.
“No, I’m serious,” Sloan said. “I’m out of gas.”
And that was it. Sloan walked away, Tyron Corbin became the coach and a few weeks later Williams was shipped to the Nets.
The Jazz have now brought back Sloan in a consultant’s role, which is a good fit for both sides. But the Jazz still need a point guard and are still trying to reshape their roster in the wake of that shakeup (they have a lot of questions with Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap as free agents this summer).
