Earlier this week, Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan announced plans to sign a one-year contract extension. Three days later, he has changed his mind. Sloan will announce that he is resigning after 23 years as the team's head coach in a press conference later today, according to a report in the Deseret News.
Jerry Sloan To Resign After 23 Years As Utah Jazz Head Coach, According To Report
KSL has learned that Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan and assistant coach Phil Johnson will resign at a press conference later Thursday.
The news comes one day after Sloan and general manager Kevin O'Connor got into a dispute following the team's 91-86 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Sloan, who usually emerges to talk to the media immediately following the game, was instead with O'Connor in his office for over 30 minutes. When he emerged to speak to reporters, he looked "shaken up" and said that he would have an announcement about what happened in that discussion "later on," according to Brian T. Smith of the Salt Lake Tribune.
The loss was the Jazz's 10th in their last 14 games following a 27-13 start. Point guard Deron Williams has expressed frustration with the state of the team on several occasions, and many believe his long-term future with the franchise is in doubt.
Sloan was the longest-tenured coach in American professional sports, having taken over the head job in the 1988/89 season. He has a career record of 1221-803, the vast majority of which came with the Jazz.
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