Jerry Sloan died Friday, May 22, 2020 at 78.Jerry Sloan, Utah Jazz coach, and Chicago Bulls player and coach dies at 78

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan died on Friday, May 22, 2020, due to complications from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 78

Sloan served as head coach of the Utah Jazz from 1988-2011, and with the help of Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton and Hall of Fame power forward Karl Malone led the Jazz to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 and lost to the Chicago Bulls in both years. These were the Utah Jazz franchise’s only Finals appearances.

In those back-to-back Finals trips, the Jazz fell in six games to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls,  a franchise where Sloan spent ten seasons as a player and coached for three seasons from 1979-82. ESPN just televised the Last Dance that chronologies how the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz both years.

 Sloan recorded 1,221 regular-season wins as a coach, the fourth most in NBA history.

Rest in peace, Jerry Sloan. We will miss you.