There has to be an opportunity and right now I don't have any offers. We'll just have to wait and see what goes on. – Jerry Sloan
SALT LAKE CITY — We may not have seen the last of Jerry Sloan on an NBA court after all.
Several sources reported Tuesday the former Utah Jazz coach is interested in pursuing the two open NBA coaching openings at Charlotte and Orlando.
Sloan told Fox Sports Florida that he had an interest in the Orlando job, which just opened the day before, and other reports said he had spoken with Charlotte owner Michael Jordan about the Bobcats' opening.
When reached at his farm near McLeansboro, Ill., by the Deseret News Tuesday afternoon, Sloan said he didn't have time to talk about the coaching possibilities, saying, "I can't right now because I'm trying to hook up my sprinklers."
However, although he couldn't talk in detail, Sloan was able to at least confirm that he is interested in getting back into the coaching profession.
"I've thought about getting back into coaching," he said. "There has to be an opportunity and right now I don't have any offers. We'll just have to wait and see what goes on."
Sloan got out of coaching on Feb. 10, 2011, following an apparent spat with Utah's star player, Deron Williams, saying, "I had a feeling this was the time to move on."
Sloan, who turned 70 earlier this year, was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2009 and ranks third on the all-time victories list among NBA coaches with 1,221 wins. He coached the Utah Jazz for 23 seasons and led the Jazz to the NBA finals in 1997 and 1998.
Even though he would be older than every coach in the league, Sloan told Fox that he's had a void since resigning from the Jazz and that he misses coaching basketball.
"I felt like I needed to get away from basketball," Sloan said. "I worked (26) years (as a head coach). It was time for me to move on and see what was going in the world. That's been kind of interesting. But I still have that void of basketball."
Charlotte is coming off a disastrous 7-59 season that was the worst in NBA history percentage-wise. Orlando was knocked out in the first round of the NBA playoffs by Indiana and general manager Otis Smith and coach Stan Van Gundy were both fired Monday.
Sloan is not the only coach the Bobcats are considering for their opening. According to the Charlotte Observer, several people have already been interviewed, including former Portland coach Nate McMillan, Bobcats' assistant Stephen Silas, Golden State assistant Michael Malone, Memphis assistant Dave Joerger, Orlando assistant Patrick Ewing, Cleveland assistant Nate Tibbetts and St. John's assistant Mike Dunlap.
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