SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Jazz CEO Greg Miller met with members of the media on Tuesday to discuss a wide-range of topics, including Jerry Sloan’s final game as the head coach of the Utah Jazz.
Miller said Sloan and point guard Deron Williams argued at halftime on February 9, 2011 after Williams changed a play at the end of the second quarter.
Miller said: “Jerry said, ‘If you’re going to change the play, it would be nice if you would let the rest of the team know.’ Deron said, ‘My bad.’ And if he would have left it right there, Jerry may have never left.”
But Williams said something else before Al Jefferson stepped in to calm him down. Sloan went to Miller and said he wanted to talk to him after the game.
Miller said: “Deron was right behind us, and he said, ‘I want to be in that meeting, too.’ Jerry said, ‘Do you want me to quit right now?’”
Sloan told Miller after the game that he was out of gas, and he stepped down the next day.
The Jazz traded Williams two weeks later, but Miller said it had nothing to do with the altercation with Sloan.
“We are where I thought we would be when we traded Deron Williams,” Miller said. “We have a solid foundation, and I am excited about the future.”
It was announced last week Sloan would be returning to the Jazz as a senior basketball adviser.
