Jerry Sloan has always been a fighter. From his scrappy playing days in Chicago to the years he spent coaching a team to the very top of the Association (with a little help from Nos. 12 and 32), the Utah Jazz great’s tough-as-nails, no-nonsense approach to basketball is the stuff of legend.
Now, though, the 77-year-old is fighting a losing battle. As eloquently chronicled by The Salt Lake Tribune’s Gordon Monson, Sloan is entering the final phase of his life as Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia take their toll on his mind and body.