Sloan decides to stop pursuing Bobcats' coaching opening

Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan told SI.com he pulled out of the running for the Charlotte Bobcats head coaching job.

Sloan was believed to be one of three finalists to replace Paul Silas after he was fired in late April, but it now appears the job will go to either Pacers assistant Brian Shaw or Lakers assistant Quin Snyder.

"I took myself out today," Sloan said by phone. "I don't want to comment on it because it's never profitable for anybody. It just makes it sound like you're making a statement about someone. But they were wonderful and there were no problems. I just took myself out."

While Sloan met with Bobcats owner Michael Jordan about the job May 25, a source close to the situation said Shaw met with Jordan on Thursday and that the meeting was "excellent." Snyder met with Jordan on Wednesday, according to ESPNLA. Snyder spent the 2010-11 season as a 76ers assistant and three years as an NBDL coach (Austin Toros) after his seven-year run as head coach of Missouri.

After his abrupt resignation midway through the 2010-11 season in Utah, Sloan has been clear about his desire to return to the sideline. While there are openings in Portland and Orlando, he said he has not had any contact with either team.

"I wasn't involved in (those situations), and people said I was but I wasn't at all," Sloan said. "I only talked to Michael Jordan. That's it."

Sloan insisted he wasn't disappointed.

"No, not at all," he said. "Whatever happens, happens. I don't have any control over those things. I just do what we've got to do. If somebody calls me, I guess I'd listen to what they have to say. But I don't have an agent, and if somebody calls I'd be willing to listen to them."

Shaw, the longtime Lakers assistant who was a finalist for the Cavaliers job that went to Byron Scott in 2010, was expected to be a candidate for the Portland and Orlando jobs as well.

Shaw is known to have serious interest in both Orlando and Portland, and it remains to be seen whether he would take the job if it was offered or hold out for the other possible opportunities.

Yet the fact that his meeting with Jordan went very well is significant, as a source with knowledge of the situation said the Bobcats owner was considering re-opening the process to more candidates if he wasn't adequately impressed by the finalists. And while it would seem Shaw is the clear frontrunner here, a source close to the situation said a decision has not yet been made.