UTAH JAZZ AND NBA COMMUNITY
HONOR THE WINNINGEST COACH
IN JAZZ FRANCHISE HISTORY
The Utah Jazz and Miller family paid tribute to Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan
by raising a “1223” banner to the EnergySolutions Arena rafters during a
halftime celebration on January 31, 2014.
Sloan coached the Utah Jazz from 1988 until 2011. During that time, the team
had two trips to the NBA Finals and 19 consecutive appearances in the playoffs.
Sloan accumulated an impressive 1,223 wins along the way.
“The number 1223 was selected to embody all of Jerry’s accomplishments
and his countless contributions to the Jazz franchise and state of Utah,” Jazz
president Randy Rigby said in a statement. “This banner will serve as a symbol
of the enduring legacy of Jerry Sloan, one of the greatest coaches in NBA
history and forever a member of the Jazz family.”
Known for his sometimes explosive reactions
from the bench, Sloan joked at a pregame press
conference that he thought the 1223 banner
represented the number of technical fouls he had
accumulated during his career.
Throughout his tenure with the Utah Jazz, head coach Jerry Sloan was as
popular with the fans as many of the star players on the team.
Throughout the game, video messages from
current team members, coaches, former NBA
greats, as well as President Obama, paid tribute
to Sloan. During the halftime ceremony at center
court, Sloan was presented with a jersey bearing
his name and the number 1223, following which
he helped raise a giant banner to the building’s
rafters, where it now resides alongside the Jazz’s
other retired jerseys. Fans attending the game
were given souvenir mini-banners.