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Former Jazz coach Jerry Sloan suffering from Parkinson’s disease
Former NBA player and longtime NBA coach Jerry Sloan is suffering from Parkinson ’s disease. The 74-year old acknowledged his illness in an interview with Steve Luhm of the Salt Lake Tribune.
During an interview at his home in Riverton, with his wife Tammy at his side, Sloan said he was diagnosed with the illnesses last fall.
He decided to go public with because the Parkinson's symptoms, which include tremors, a hushed voice and sleeplessness, have progressed to the point where people have started to notice.
"I don't want people feeling sorry for me," said Sloan, who continues to walk four miles a day.
Sloan coached the Utah Jazz from 1988 until unexpectedly walking away from the team in 2011.
Prior to that he was a ten-year pro in Baltimore and Chicago, making three All-Defensive squads and two All-Star Games as a member of the Chicago Bulls. He finished his playing career with averages of 14.7 points and 2.2 steals, doing most of his defensive damage before the NBA recognized steals as an official statistic in 1973.
Sloan coached the Bulls briefly prior to joining Frank Layden’s coaching staff in Utah, moving up the ranks when Layden decided to move to the front office full time.
Sloan would then go on to guide the Karl Malone and John Stockton-led Jazz to a series of playoff runs, culminating in two Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998. Those Utah teams gave the eventual champion Bulls all they could handle in two Finals losses. Remarkably, Sloan won over 60 percent of his games as coach and 1221 games overall – ranking third all time.
Jerry Sloan was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
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is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
