Jerry Sloan Suffering from Parkinson's Disease, Lewy Body Dementia
Legendary Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan revealed Wednesday in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune's Steve Luhm that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia.
Sloan, 74, was diagnosed with both diseases last fall and opted to disclose the nature of his illnesses publicly because the symptoms of Parkinson's "have progressed to the point where people have started to notice," according to Luhm. However, Sloan is still walking four miles a day.
"I don't want people feeling sorry for me," Sloan said, per Luhm.
The Jazz would later release a statement on Sloan, via Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com:
A 2009 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, Sloan is one of the most decorated coaches in NBA history. The former Jazz and Chicago Bulls boss ranks No. 3 in regular-season wins, and his career total of 418 more wins than losses ranks fifth behind Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, Pat Riley and Red Auerbach.
| 1 | Don Nelson | 1,335 | .557 |
| 2 | Lenny Wilkens | 1,332 | .536 |
| 3 | Jerry Sloan | 1,221 | .603 |
| 4 | Pat Riley | 1,210 | .636 |
| 5 | George Karl | 1,173 | .588 |
| 6 | Phil Jackson | 1,155 | .704 |
| 7 | Larry Brown | 1,098 | .548 |
| 8 | Gregg Popovich | 1,087 | .693 |
| 9 | Rick Adelman | 1,042 | .582 |
| 10 | Bill Fitch | 944 | .460 |
After spending 10 seasons with the Chicago Bulls as a player during a stretch that included four first-team All-Defense nods, Sloan transitioned to life as an assistant coach with the Windy City ballers before he was named head coach prior to the 1979-80 season.
Sloan's time as a coach in Chicago was truncated, though, and he linked up with the Jazz as an assistant coach in 1985 before he was named the team's head coach during the 1988-89 season. The two-time All-Star went on to coach the Jazz for 23 seasons and compiled a record of 1,127-682 in Salt Lake City.
Sloan also led the Jazz to consecutive Western Conference championships in 1997 and 1998, but Michael Jordan's Bulls dispatched Utah in the NBA Finals on both occasions.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
