Utah Jazz CEO Begged Jerry Sloan Not to Quit Back in 2011
By Josh Hill
The Utah Jazz and legendary head coach Jerry Sloan are trying to reunite once again. Sloan is reportedly in talks about accepted a job within the organization and has been since as early as last month. But while the reunion seems like it’s going to happen, Jazz CEO Greg Miller is still replaying the night two years ago when Sloan threw up his hands and walked away from the franchise.
According to Miller, he begged Sloan not to quit. USA Today logged the conversation as Miller told reporters he wrote down what was said because he felt it was a pivotal moment in the history of the Utah Jazz.
"Miller asked him to at least stay through the season, but Sloan just kept repeating that he was out of gas. As the seriousness of Sloan’s words hit him, Miller decided begging him to stay wasn’t going to work."
He wasn’t wrong in assuming that as things have quickly crumbled for Utah since the whole incident occurred. Deron Williams, he young point guard star at the time, is still widely blamed today for pushing Sloan to his limits back in 2011 and judging from Miller’s recounting of the incident, he’s very much to blame for Sloan quitting.
Miller responded to Sloan quitting by trading Williams to the now Brooklyn Nets two weeks later and Utah has yet to fully recover from what happened. With Sloan reportedly coming back to the organization, it appears we may finally have closure on the situation. But the incident is still clearly raw in Miller’s mind and you’ve got to believe he’s not going yo allow something like that to happen again under his watch.