For all Jerry Sloan's insistence that winning a record number of games means nothing, truth is it means a lot.
Everything, actually.
It's not like he's been doing this for the frequent flier miles.
The Jazz coach became the first to win 1,000 games with the same franchise on Friday night against Oklahoma City. That puts him in a coverall-wearing, tractor-driving class of one. Nobody has hung around in the same town the way Sloan has. He's a Utah fixture, like the Tabernacle Choir, except with a different vocabulary.
When you think of winter in Utah, you think of good skiing, bad air and Sloan.
The Jazz's 104-97 win ran their record to 5-0, and Sloan's record in Utah to 1,000-596. That's an average of almost 50 wins a season which, given the never-ending grind of the NBA, is impressive.
"Winning's fine," Sloan said, "but that's a short-lived thing. Losing sticks with you for a long time."
No other coach has been more ingrained in his franchise. Not Red Auerbach (795 wins with Boston), Gregg Popovich (633 with San Antonio) or Red Holtzman (613 with New York) has come close.
Not only is he the first coach to reach 1,000 wins with the same franchise, he was also the first to reach 900 and 800.
The man has more lasting power than polyester.
Don Nelson has 1,282 career coaching wins, but those include stops in Milwaukee, Golden State, New York, Dallas and again in Golden State. Larry Brown has 1,011 career wins, but has more former teams (going on 9) than Henry VIII had wives (6).
Sloan is only the fifth coach to win 1,000 games in any location or combination thereof. Counting his 2 1/2 seasons in Chicago, he has 1,094 career wins — the fourth-most in league history, behind Lenny Wilkens (1,332), Nelson (1,282) and Pat Riley, (1,195). His all-time win percentage (.604) is seventh-best all-time.
Yet for all his success, Sloan has been overlooked. He has never won a Coach of the Year award, despite being one of just three to win at least 50 games 10 times or more. He and Auerbach are the only coaches to log 10 straight winning seasons with one team.
A new guy comes in, flavor-of-the-month, like Byron Scott or Avery Johnson, and gets an award. Meanwhile, Sloan keeps on plowing, literally and figuratively.
At the same time, he insists he hasn't really done anything. Harsh reality shows that is partially true. He has never won a championship. L.A.'s Phil Jackson has fewer wins than Sloan (981) but owns nine championship rings, which can't be far from Sloan's mind. Go ahead and ask him if any of the 1,596 games with the Jazz stand out.
"Yeah, a few games," he said. "Unfortunately, it's the losses. Losses stick to your mind."
Nevertheless, Sloan has won. Big. Under him, the Jazz have had only one losing season in the past 20. His teams have made the playoffs 18 times. His mark of 16 straight winning seasons (1988-2004) is second-longest in league history.
Since his first game as a head coach, on Dec. 9, 1988 (a loss to Dallas), he has won two conference titles, seven division titles and at least 50 games a dozen times.
Now he has rebuilt the Jazz into a contender again.
Yet he readily admits feeling insecure about his job.
"I never thought I'd last a week," Sloan said. "I was very serious about that throughout my career. Just a day-to-day thing."
So in beating the Thunder, Sloan had to be happy. Not with the milestone per se, but with the victory. The gift that keeps on giving.
He honestly couldn't care less about banners, ceremonies, headlines and announcements.
But not thrilled to win 1,000 times?
Please.
It's what he lives for.
E-mail: rock@desnews.com