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SALT LAKE CITY — I had a rare thing happen to me at work last night.
Chasing the Jerry Sloan story, USA Today had reported Sloan had interviewed with the Milwaukee Bucks, met with and interviewed. I tried to catch Jerry at his farm in Illinois but got an automated answering machine so I gave his wife a Tammy a call here in Utah. I usually run it by Tammy when I would like to speak with Jerry.
After a minute or two discussing Mother's Day Tammy says, "Do you want to talk to Jerry? He's right here?" Uh, sure. He might be 71, but Jerry's husky voice still makes me feel like the little kid I once was. Like the day I introduced my eldest son Tristan (he was all of 5 at the time) to Jerry about eight or nine years ago. Jerry reached out to shake Tristan's hand, got kind of a dead fish offered and Sloan bellowed, "Look me in the eye when you shake my hand, boy!!!" I think Tris still hears those words sometimes and wakes up in a cold sweat!
After kicking with J-Slo for a few seconds about all the rain he's seen at his farm in Illinois, I just jumped right in and asked if we could take a few minutes of his time and record a phone interview about this Milwaukee news? "No thanks, I'm not really interested in doing that right now."
Quickly I shift gears. Don't know how much time I will get with Jerry now that he's stoned me cold on my taped interview request.
So I start asking him about the Bucks situation and what had been reported and he says, "Yes, I've talked to them about the job, we met and I don't have much more to add to that."
Did he have a sense of Milwaukee's interest; reports indicate Sloan is a leading candidate for the Bucks?
"I think it all went well but I really have no idea what they think and they haven't told me anything more than just those discussions about the team and the job."
The Bucks have, reportedly, already also interviewed former Sonics and Blazers Coach Nate McMillian plus three other NBA assistants. "They can do whatever they want," Jerry says of the Bucks.
"I'm not looking for just any job, I mean, any job beats the job I have right now," Jerry joked, "but I don't want to just come back to any situation."
True to his form, Jerry didn't give me much other than to confirm that he has met and interviewed with the Bucks.
In this day and age I guess it's fashionable to interview many then hire your guy. I can't help thinking Jerry's thinking, "They don't run Phil Jackson through a spin cycle of interviews, up against others so woefully under qualified by comparison."
Milwaukee's got their guy and he's right here in Utah. Unless Sloan's price is too high or the Bucks are listening too closely to players who might not want Sloan's "my way IS the highway wherever I work" mentality.
Follow the next few interviews in Milwaukee. If they want a stern, strict leader who's bent on winning and actually runs an offense that involves touches and picks and cuts by all five guys, there's only one choice.
