SALT LAKE CITY — The way former assistant coach Phil Johnson remembers it, there was a constant uphill climb for the Utah Jazz in the 1990s before they finally reached what for them was the pinnacle — the 1997 NBA Finals against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
“We just banged our heads against the wall for so many years trying to get there,” he said Wednesday. “We had some really good teams, but we’d come up against a really good Portland team or a really good Seattle team, a good Phoenix team or a good Houston team or a good San Antonio team or a good Lakers team. There were some really good teams in the league then, so for us to get to the Finals, that was really something.”
In looking back on that season, Johnson has no regrets about anything the coaches or players could have done differently to come away with an NBA title.
“The guys we had, they played hard and we did the best we could,” Johnson said. “Bottom line, we just ran up against a couple of really good teams.”
Johnson joked about having to go against Jordan for two years running, saying, “That one player was pretty good, No. 23 as I recall. I wish he would have stayed retired, that would have helped us, wouldn’t it? I wish his baseball career would have been better.”
While these days many teams have as many as eight coaches like the current Utah Jazz, back in ’97, the Jazz coaching staff consisted of Johnson, head coach Jerry Sloan and assistants Gordon Chiesa and Kenny Natt.
Sloan, who has been suffering from health issues for the past couple of years, wasn’t available for media interviews earlier Wednesday, but did speak briefly at a news conference before Wednesday night’s game with the New York Knicks.
“Our guys enjoyed competing,” he said. “We had great players and it didn’t take much to get them fired up.”
Sloan expressed his appreciation to the fans and the Jazz organization.
“Our fans were second to none in the NBA,” he said. “This organization has been more than fair to me and my family.”
Sloan also lamented the frustrations of his advancing age as he turns 75 next week. “I don’t like to be old,” he said.
Sloan and Johnson coached together at Utah for 23 years (1988 to 2011).
“We’re very close,” said Johnson. “We went to Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago and scouted the tournaments and we see each other quite a bit. It’s not easy for him, but he just keeps going.”
As for his memories of the 1996-97 season, Johnson calls it a “blur.”
“Some things stand out, going to the Finals obviously was something,” he said. “It’s been great seeing these guys after 20 years and the memories come flooding back.”
These days, Johnson still does scouting for the Jazz organization, concentrating on local college games and the NBA D-League, attending most Salt Lake City Stars home games (“I didn’t want to do a lot of traveling because I’ve done enough of that in my life” he says).
Johnson also works out every day, usually at the Jazz practice facility and spends time in the summer at his place at Bear Lake. He also finds time to ride his Harley and says he enjoys tinkering around, fixing stuff, which he said he got from his days growing up on a farm.
“I don’t really miss coaching as I miss the people,” Johnson said. “It was a joy to come to work because we had a good time. We had a sense of humor and used to get on each other telling old stories. It was fun, but when it came time to work, we worked.”