Jazz honor Sloan

When Jerry Sloan was the head coach of the Utah Jazz, no one doubted who was in charge. “He was tough but he was fair,” said Karl Malone, who was a mainstay of Jazz teams that reached the playoffs 16 consecutive seasons. The Jazz honored the Hall of Fame coach Friday night at halftime of their game against the Golden State Warriors by raising a banner featuring the number “1223,” which represents Sloan wins, regular season (1127) and playoff (96), in his 23 years with the Jazz from 1988-2011. “I’ve been blessed. I really felt like I was the luckiest guy in the world to be able to coach two guys ( John Stockton and Malone) that were willing to pay the price and played hard every day,” said Sloan, who is still in the Jazz organization as an adviser. – AP