On the fourth day of Christmas, the Utah Jazz gave to me... Sloan's Milestones
In honor of Sloan's request to leave him the hell alone, I didn't even put up a game recap for Jerry's 1000th win with the Jazz. That win came over the ThunderSonics back in November.
The second milestone came of course on Sloan's 20th anniversary with the team earlier this month. I was so frustrated with that game that I didn't mention the anniversary their there either. (And if you ever catch me using the wrong they're/their/there, please scream at me in the comments. It's one of my biggest pet peeves when I read it but I've caught myself using the wrong one lately. My other grammatical errors are not up for criticism though)
So my gift to Coach Sloan for those accomplishments was to not talk about them, until now I guess. Crap.
Anyway, the greatest thing about these accomplishments is that they're easily divisible. 1000 wins/20 years = 50 wins a year. Not bad at all.
With the coaching landscape today, it's hard to see another coach reach these milestones again. They're not untouchable.
You would have to have the perfect climate for it that has existed in Utah. First, you would have to have a fairly patient/loyal/conservative owner. You'd need a coach that would want to do the daily grind of coaching for that long and still love it. Doesn't hurt to have a couple of of Hall of Famers that stick with the team for their entire careers (save one rogue year). You need to win. That usually is the biggest predicator of tenure. It needs to be the perfect storm. With that said, I don't see it happening again.
Stability just isn't a phrase you would use to describe the NBA today.
So how many more wins and years does Sloan have in him? He's sure as hell not going to tell you.