Former Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan Has Been Diagnosed With Parkinson’s And Dementia

Jerry Sloan
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Jerry Sloan competed as an NBA player for 11 years. He found success as a coach for more than 30.

Now, he’s looking to keep fighting.

The Salt Lake Tribune offered up some depressing news Wednesday afternoon when it reported the 74-year-old Sloan has been suffering from Parkinson’s and a case of dementia.

From the Tribune:

The former Jazz coach and Hall of Famer — the coach with the third most wins in NBA history — is battling Parkinson’s disease and a form of dementia called Lewy body dementia,

The prognosis is unkind.

There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, although, in some cases, medication can “markedly improve symptoms.” But in Sloan’s case, the symptoms continue to progress.

Lewy body dementia is a neurological disorder that manifests itself as difficulty with memory, problem solving, planning and analytical thinking. While the numbers differ, Lewy Body Association says about 1.4 million Americans have the disease.

Sloan was the coach of the Jazz from 1988 to 2011. He was previously head coach of the Bulls from 1979 to 1982.

Parkinson’s is known best for the way it attacks a person’s motor skills. It can cause tremors, hurt a patient’s ability to walk or perform what many consider to be easy daily tasks. Dementia, though, attacks the mind. Lewy body dementia is the second-most common type of progressive dementia, according to the Mayo Clinic. Only Alzheimer’s is ahead of it.

As coach of the Utah Jazz, Sloan racked up an impressive .623 winning percentage, posting records over .500 in every individual season except for one, and making it to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, though he — along with his famous duo of John Stockton and Karl Malone — lost to Michael Jordan’s Bulls both times there. He garnered 1,221 victories in his coaching career, placing him third all time, behind only Don Nelson and Lenny Wilkins.

(Salt Lake Tribune)

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