West gets easier

Utah coach Sloan to resign on Thursday

By NBA.com staff reports
Posted Feb 10 2011 1:54PM

Utah's Jerry Sloan, the longest tenured coach in any of the four major North American pro sports, will resign later Thursday, according to a report in the Salt Lake City Deseret News.

Sloan, who turns 69 next month, announced just last week that he had signed a new one-year extension on his contract. But the Jazz, mired in sixth place in the Western Conference, have been struggling lately. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games and have not won back-to-back games in nearly a month. Sloan's system has been criticized publicly as too restrictive by his All-Star point guard, Deron Williams.

In 25-plus seasons with the Jazz, Sloan has a 1,221-803 record (.603). He is the only coach in the NBA to win 1,000 games with a single franchise.