Ripping Cigs At Halftime, Fighting Dennis Rodman & More - The Best Jerry Sloan Stories That Took Over Social Media Today
Obviously everyone knows by now that all-time hoops legend Jerry Sloan died today at the age of 78. Because he's been a hoop lifer there are a million Jerry Sloan stories. People took to Twitter and social media today to share some of them. I gotta say there were some that I don't remember or didn't know and wanted to share. These are the best/craziest ones I saw.
Jerry Sloan took the Evansville job, then resigned a couple days later. That year was the year the Evansville plane crashed
Before Jerry Sloan was Mr. Bull he was Mr. Evansville. He won a national title playing for Evansville and went back there as an assistant coach. He actually accepted the head coaching job before backing out a few days later after a change of heart. That following year, in what would have been his first year as head coach the Evansville team plane crashed, killing all 29 people on board. That would have been Jerry Sloan. It's one of the more forgotten about tragedies in college sports and it's somewhat insane to think that Sloan was a heart decision away from being the head coach of that team.
Jerry Sloan and Dennis Rodman getting into it mid-game leading to an ejection
This is Pistons Rodman, this isn't even the crazy one! But the random pointing to Jerry Sloan leading to an ejection. Him running by the bench starting to talk shit as Jerry Sloan did not back down at all. John Stockton hitting the free throw as all this is going on. I love this video so much.
Jerry Sloan used to rip cigs at halftime and smoke 3 packs a day while making All-Defense
Yep, that checks out. Remember Jordan said on The Last Dance how people would just rip cigs at halftime. That's not exactly breaking news. Just hilarious to see the numbers. Three packs a day and still made All-Defense! I love the story of him just sitting there smoking a cig and discussing plays. A true basketball guy.
Kenyon Martin was going to play for the Jazz?
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Wait, huh? Kenyon Martin just casually dropping that he almost was a Jazz (it really is the worst name in sports) during his RIP post is kind of nuts. This was just 4 seasons into Martin's NBA career and he was pretty damn good on the Nets making All-Rookie Team and an All-Star Team. You throw him over to the Jazz in 2004 and have them build with Martin, Boozer, Deron Williams (although there's a good chance they don't land him), etc and that's even more interesting.
His postgame interview after the Jazz scored 54 points in game 3 of the NBA Finals
Speaking of Kenyon Martin, he threatened to kick his ass too
Jerry Sloan was always ready to throw down. Respect.
Jerry Stackhouse can catch these hands too
RIP to an absolute legend with a million great stories.