It's weird to write this post. In a sense, I'm grieving. But it's far different from real grief. The stakes are a lot less high, the feelings concern a man I've never met personally, and my life will not be affected too much, one way or the other. I know all that intellectually, but it's still hard to escape the feeling that we lost something today. Not just us Jazz fans, not just followers of the association, or even sports fans in general, but Americans. Jerry Sloan really did represent that Hoosiers attitude. The belief that if you just tried hard, learned how to play basketball right, and respected the game, you could accomplish anything. He really was a no bullshit guy. He never got lauded all that much in the media, never coached an all star game, never won coach of the year, or an nba title. And he didn't create any really good basketball innovations. He kept coaching the same offense, season after season, decade after decade. That is, however, exactly what is so wonderful about him. He kept the Utah Jazz up to a standard. His greatest accomplishment, I think, is that the Jazz did not plummet off the face of the earth after Stockton and Malone retired. He was able, almost single handedly, to rebuild the franchise and have them back in the playoffs in no time. Because of all that consistency the Utah Jazz produced a very specific type of player that is highly uncommon in professional sports today. That player is the no nonsense guy. The guy who hustles hard and tries hard on every play, who doesn't expect everything to be given to him, who works at it every day, and does so modestly. These guys are scrappers, pushers, but not fighters. They are the antithesis of what loud drunks disparaging the NBA claim that all basketball players are. They are not in it for the money. They do not demand to take the last shot. Paul Millsap is a player like that. So is Karl Malone. So are countless other guys. Our organization has been stocked with guys like that for decades. They're Utah Jazz players. They're Jerry Sloan players.Jerry Sloan represents a nearly lost world, just barely visible from where we stand today. A world in which star athletes and third string guys are treated the same. Where you get the credit if you do your job, and you take the blame when you don't. He feels like a relic from the Harry Truman era, where the buck stopped with someone. Indeed, Sloan often took the blame in press conferences insisting that, as coach, if the team didn't win, he was to blame. He also did those press conferences next to a plastic garbage can, a good midwestern kid, he was unafraid of a little trash. He also said things that sounded like they could come out of a sports movie, here's some highlights from his hoopedia.com article:
"These guys have been criticized the last few years for not getting to where we’re going, but I’ve always said that the most important thing in sports is to keep trying. Let this be an example of what it means to say it’s never over." -- After advancing to the finals
"Size doesn't make any difference; heart is what makes a difference."
He'd also get after guys relentlessly and say things like this (from the same source):
"I don't care if he's 19 or 30. If he's going to be on the floor in the NBA, he's got to be able to step up and get after it. We can't put diapers on him one night, and a jockstrap the next night. It's just the way it is." -- on CJ Miles' inconsistency
That kind of John Wayne grit is really beautiful. There's a sense in which it's old fashioned, conservative, and anti-intellectual. But there's something so honest and beautiful about Sloan talking about heart that it transcends all the cliches. That's what we lose with Sloan, we're done with the last of the real feelings. From here on out sport will be all self-aware and ironic. Its members must, like everybody else, move into the twenty first century. And some of that is good. The silver lining of Sloan leaving is that the Utah Jazz, an organization that ten years ago seemed to go out of its way to draft white players over better black ones, now has an African American for a head coach. That makes me really proud and happy for the team. And there's an extent to which the Sloan ideals are still alive. Greg Popavich and the Spurs play no nonsense basketball. Tough minded basketball. Utah Jazz basketball. Unfortunately, I can't say whether or not the team in Salt Like City will. I don't know Ty Corbin really well, I'm rooting for him, but I'll miss Sloan. Watching the Utah Jazz recently has been exactly the same as it always was throughout my life. I've consistently rooted for the same team, with the same ethos, while things have changed around me. Iverson came and went, and the Jazz were still the Jazz. So did Stephon Marbury. Everyone in the league got twitter accounts, but the Jazz were still the Jazz. LeBron had his Deciding moment; he finally and fatally bought into his own hype, but nothing changed in Utah*. The Jazz were still the Jazz. That's all over now. Jerry Sloan was the Utah Jazz. Like it or not, whatever comes next is something none of us have ever seen.
* Some people, especially at espn.com, are saying that this was all Williams' doing. They claim that Williams threatened O'Connor with his leaving if Jerry didn't get out. Him or me, they speculate he said. I'm not sure what to make of the truth of this rumor. If it is true, what a shame. I thought better of Williams. If that is the truth I blame LeBron for permanently changing the league and giving control to the players. It's not that he intended for that to happen. The problem with LeBron James isn't that he signed with a new team, countless players did that in the past, even those who were the best of the age. No, the problem was that everyone was paying attention to him, everyone was hyperfocused on what he would do in free agency. It was like the obsession with balloon boy, just a phase that swept over America. Only when LeBron spoke, many millions tuned in. He had everyone's attention and he believed he deserved everyone's attention. He used that attention to build a player friendly super team in Miami. Since everyone watched, everyone came to the same realization at once: Wait a second, the super stars are in charge. This is a genie that can't be put back in its bottle. It's as if everyone in the country suddenly realized they could cheat on their taxes and proceeded to do so. Why show loyalty to a team that is just using you for your skills? Why pay my hard earned money to the government? Why should we strive to engage our political opponents honestly? Why not just say they hate the country, it's far easier? Indeed it makes sense not to follow conventions, as not following them gives you an edge. Only breaking the rules has its consequences. If we don't pay taxes, roads can't be built. If players always leave, teams can't exist, franchises mean nothing, and consistency is gone. If Williams killed Sloan's career, then the real culprit is LeBron, the quintessential 21st century basketball star. I wish James the best, but his rise necessitates the fall of those who came before him. We are now in LeBron James' America, which will be a great country in many ways. It will never again, however, be Sloan's America. The values he stood for up until last night are nearly all gone.
@KingJames LeBron James
Man its gonna be crazy and weird seeing anyone besides Jerry Sloan walking the sidelines for the Utah Jazz! Jerry ... http://tmi.me/6Czry
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