Jerry West on Passing of Jerry Sloan: "I really loved this guy"
On Friday, Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan passed away at the age of 78. He was one of the league's all-time greats, beginning his playing career in 1965 and retiring in 2011 as the NBA's third-winningest coach in history with 1,221 wins.
Jerry West, who played many games against Sloan's Chicago Bulls in the early days of the NBA, talked with The Athletic's Bill Oram about their relationship and Sloan's style of play.
"I really loved this guy, personally," West said. "I would tell you two things about Jerry. As a player, it was ridiculous. He was relentless. After the game, you're going to have a lot of bruises on you. If you're going for a layup, you're going to be on the floor."
It doesn't sound like Sloan's approach to the game as a player would go over well in today's NBA, but his coaching style was effective enough for him to make two trips to the NBA Finals in the late 1990s — losing both times to Michael Jordan's Bulls.
As a player, though, West found Sloan to be very relatable.
"He was kind of someone I could relate to in terms of how he played," West said. "He wasn't the most gifted offensive player, but he was a heck of a basketball player. And more importantly, a great person. This is the kind of person in today's [NBA] if you could add a quality piece as a player, Jerry Sloan would be that player. Instead of some guy who was averaging 20 points a game."
With nearly 50 combined years of experience in the NBA, Sloan is a figure that will be remembered by many generations of players and fans alike.
