Jerry Sloan timeline: A look back at the life of the Utah Jazz’s Hall of Fame coach

SALT LAKE CITY — Longtime Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan died early Friday morning at the age of 78 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

The Hall of Fame coach made an indelible mark on the franchise and in the world of basketball — from his days playing as a teen in Illinois to suiting up for and later coaching the Chicago Bulls prior to joining the Jazz organization, where he coached for two and a half decades, first as an assistant then 23 years as head coach.

March 28, 1942 — Born in McLeansboro, Illinois.

1960 — Graduated from McLeansboro High School.

1962-65 — Played three seasons for Evansville (Indiana) in college after transferring from the University of Illinois. He was a three-time All-American with Evansville and helped the Purple Aces win two NCAA Division II national championships in 1964 and 1965, including a 29-0 record and the title as a senior.

1965 — Selected by the Baltimore Bullets with the seventh overall pick in the NBA draft.

1966 — Selected by the Chicago Bulls in the NBA expansion draft.

1967 — Named an NBA All-Star for the first time. He averaged 17.4 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game that season.

1969 — Earned the second NBA All-Star citation of his pro career. Sloan averaged 16.8 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists during the 1968-69 season.

1976 — A knee injury ended Sloan’s playing career, which included being named to the league’s All-Defensive team six times (four on the first team and two on the second team).

1976-77 — Served as a scout for the Chicago Bulls organization.

1977-79 — Worked as an assistant coach for Chicago.

Feb. 7, 1978 — Became the first Chicago Bulls player to have his jersey (No. 4) retired.

April 28, 1979 — Hired as head coach of the Chicago Bulls.

Feb. 17, 1982 — Fired as head coach of Chicago before the end of his third season. He had a 94-121 record during that time and his teams reached the playoffs once.

1983-84 — Served as a scout for the Utah Jazz organization.

1984 — Hired as head coach of the Evansville Thunder of the Continental Basketball Association but was hired by the Utah Jazz before coaching a game.

1984-88 — Worked as an assistant coach for Utah. He was part of the coaching staff when the team selected future Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone in back-to-back drafts.

Dec. 9, 1988 — Hired as head coach of the Jazz after Frank Layden resigned to become team president 17 games into the 1988-89 season.

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1988-89 — Led the Jazz to 40 wins and 25 losses, the Midwest Division title and the postseason in his first season as head coach. Utah fell to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs.

1991-92 — The Jazz reached the conference finals for the first time in franchise history, beating the Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle SuperSonics in the playoffs before falling to the Portland Trail Blazers in six games (4-2) in the Western Conference finals.

1996-97 — The Jazz went 64-18, the most wins in a season in Sloan’s career. Utah made the NBA Finals for the first time, beating the Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets to advance before losing to the Chicago Bulls in six games (4-2).

1998 — Named Sporting News’ NBA Coach of the Year.

1997-98 — Utah returned to the NBA Finals, following a 62-20 regular season. This time, Utah beat the Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and Lakers to make the finals. Again, the Bulls beat the Jazz 4-2 in the championship series.

2004 — Named Sporting News’ NBA Coach of the Year.

2004-05 — Suffered his lone losing record as coach of the Jazz with a 26-56 mark after 16 straight years with a winning record.

Dec. 11, 2006 — Earned his 1,000th career NBA victory as a head coach, only the fifth coach in league history to do so. It came in a 101-79 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

2006-07 — Led his team to the conference finals for the sixth and final time in his coaching career.

Nov. 7, 2008 — Earned his 1,000th career win as head coach of the Jazz in a 104-97 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

2009 — Inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame along with Stockton. Malone followed the next year.

Feb. 10, 2011 — Resigned as head coach of the Jazz after 23 years in the position, the longest coaching tenure with the same team in pro sports history. He finished his career with a 1,221-803 record, including 1,127-682 in Utah, and is No. 4 on the all-time NBA coaches wins list.

Sloan had a 98-104 playoff record, including a 96-100 postseason record with the Jazz.

2011 — Inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame.

Jan 31, 2014 — Honored by the Jazz with a banner that bore the number “1,223,” the number of wins for Sloan during his tenure as head coach of the Jazz (1,127 in the regular season and 96 in the playoffs).

Fall 2015 — Was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

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