Jerry Sloan

Gerald Eugene “Jerry” Sloan (March 28, 1942-May 22, 2020) is known as the “Original Bull” after being taken during the 1966 expansion draft and immediately leading them to their first NBA playoff appearance, but he earned Hall of Fame status coming off the bench as one of the most successful head coaches in NBA history. Sloan led the University of Evansville Purple Aces to a 29-0 record in 1965 and the NCAA College Division Championship, after which he was named to the Little All-American First Team. The Baltimore Bullets originally took Jerry in the third round of the 1964 draft, but he chose to return to college and then was taken again by the Bullets fourth overall in the 1965 NBA Draft. He played one season with the Bullets (1965-66) and then the remainder of his career in the Windy City (1966-1976). While playing small forward and point guard for Chicago, Jerry led the Bulls to eight playoff appearances in ten years including the Western Conference Finals in 1974 and 1975. He was a two-time NBA All-Star selection and was named to six NBA All-Defensive First (4) and Second (2) Teams. Jerry Sloan scored 10,571 points, 5,615 rebounds and 1,925 assists in 755 games.

Following his playing days, Sloan worked as a head coach with the Bulls for three seasons (1979-1982) compiling a 94-121 record in 215 games. Jerry took over head coaching duties with the Utah Jazz (1988-2011) where he spent a record 22 seasons. He was the longest tenured head coach with the same team in professional sports history, is one of three NBA coaches to win 50 games in 10 or more seasons and lead his team to 15-consecutive playoff appearances (Pat Riley and Phil Jackson) and is the only NBA head coach to win 1,000 or more games with the same franchise. Jerry guided the Karl Malone and John Stockton led Jazz to back-to-back NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 falling to the Chicago Bulls in each. Jerry was named The Sporting News 2004 NBA Coach of the Year and is the fourth winningest coach in NBA history. Jerry Sloan retired in 2011 having compiled a 1,221-803 record in 2,024 games and a 98-104 playoff record. Jerry had the distinct honor of being enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame as a coach alongside his former Jazz player John Stockton in 2009.