Jerry Sloan’s wife thinks he might coach again. Jerry? Not so much
It's often the ones that come off as "normal" that are the most complex. Take, for instance, Basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Sloan, who was the subject of a typically entertaining column from the Salt Lake Tribune's Steve Luhm over the weekend.
In it, Luhm details Sloan's assertion that he is surprised by how little he misses the NBA (after 46 consecutive years spent working in the league as a player and coach, before his resignation from the Utah Jazz last winter), his massive tractor-purge that Eric Freeman told you about in August, and a life that is still spiraling (despite the support of his current wife) from the passing of his first wife Bobbye in 2004.
Bobbye had planned on opening an antique store with her husband once he retired from coaching the Utah Jazz, but her passing left Jerry with a massive array of the aforementioned tractors, "vintage furniture, old cash registers and collectible pottery." Sloan and his current wife have spent their months removed from the NBA working on the "overwhelming" task of ridding their two homes of the collected artifacts meant for that antique store.
And though Sloan, a longtime friend, and a former player are all quoted as telling Luhm that they think Jerry is done for good as an NBA coach, his current wife Tammy doesn't see her husband as staying on the figurative sidelines for long:
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"I just don't see him staying retired," she said. "I just can't see that happening."
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"When he's at the farm, he's just fine," she said. "He's entertained all day. He gets up at 5 or 6 in the morning and messes around, taking care of stuff."
But?
"When he's here in Utah, he's bored out of his mind," she said. "He walks and he works out, but he's still looking for enough things to keep him busy."
The word from the former coach's mouth?
"The camaraderie we had with the players and coaches all those years was special and now, all of a sudden, it stops," he said. "There's a void there, no question about that. But do I miss it that much? I'd say, 'Not really.' But we'll see."
"We'll see." After an offseason of hearing that incessantly, it makes sense that Sloan is still right in line with his former NBA players and colleagues.
