This morning, everyone seems to have an opinion. No doubt both ends of the spectrum will be covered, from "Jerry Sloan is an old fuddy duddy who isn't cool enough to coach modern athletes" to "Deron Williams is your typical prima donna athlete and ultimate coach-killer", and every shade in between.
My opinion lies somewhere in the middle of those two extremes. One fact that I don't buy is that Deron Williams had nothing to do with Sloan's decision to resign, as D-Will himself has declared. When asked if he had a role in forcing Jerry Sloan out as coach, Williams responded "No sir."
But c'mon, are we really supposed to believe him when he says that? Gimmie a break.
While I am not ignorant enough to deny that the present-day NBA is a place where, as Adrian Wojnarowski puts it, "talent trumps everything, where the best players always beat the best coaches", can I ask how far is too far though? I'm not saying that players should have no say, or should just shut up and play, or have to play on teams that are run as dictatorships or anything close to that.
I'm just wondering that if the current trend continues in the NBA of talent trumping coaching, why will we need coaches at all in ten years? Why not just let the players coach themselves? I mean, that's pretty much what we have going on in Miami this season, is it not?
But I digress. The part of this story that riles me up the most is the fact that, after all bitching and moaning that Deron Williams has done in the last couple years and especially this season, what does it all accomplish for him and the Utah Jazz? When July of 2012 rolls around, Williams is gone and he's going to New York, Miami, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Dallas, or somewhere bigger than little ol' Salt Lake City.
So essentially, the Jazz kicked Jerry Sloan to the curb and the player they chose over him is gone in 18 months. And they're left pretty desolate. It just doesn't add up for me. And kind of annoys me. Sure, you can make the point that yes, Jerry Sloan chose to walk away by resigning, but let's be honest here. Do you think that Sloan would still be the coach if Utah had made a decision to ease the tension by say, trading Williams away? I sure do. So yes, the Jazz chose Williams over Sloan.
Personally, I think that when the Jazz chose to go with Williams and let Sloan walk away, that Deron Williams should have had to sign a 4-5 year contract extension as punishment. Then I would believe the fact that Deron Williams really cares about winning and winning in Utah.
Oh but wait...Kobe Bryant has chimed in on this and he says to leave Deron alone. "People need to leave D-Will the [expletive] alone on this,” Kobe Bryant told Yahoo! Sports on Thursday night. “Leave him alone. He doesn’t deserve to be at the front of this. That’s horse****. He’s a great competitor. He works his butt off. He’s always been a great leader. He’s clutch, performs under pressure. Enjoy the 23 great years that Jerry Sloan gave them, but don’t put this on Deron Williams.”
And since Kobe Bryant told me to leave D-Will the f*** alone, I guess I have to listen to him, right? That's a star player talking about another star player, from a star player's point of view, so that it for what its worth.
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski writes a great article that seems to take Deron Williams' side in all of this, and I have to admit, he makes many great points. Adrian Wojnarowski is a much smarter man than I am, that is a fact. But I just don't agree with him. Wojnarowski writes:
"Williams is so much like Sloan: tough, proud, professional and caring deeply about winning. Around Team USA, Williams had always been a favorite of officials and coaches for his maturity. When peers LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul were younger, behaved immaturely and acted like followers, one source says: “Deron was always the grownup. He has always been his own man.”
"Jerry Sloan goes home now, but there’s no blood on Deron Williams’ hands. The world had changed around Sloan, and that was no fault of one player."
That last sentence is something that I can agree with. Yes, Jerry Sloan was probably a little over the top and more-than-likely needed to retire for his own sake. But, like I said earlier, I think it's a little ignorant to think that Deron Williams had nothing to do with Sloan finally calling it quits.
I just think it's pretty jacked up that Williams and Sloan can't get along, so the Jazz finally do something about it, and then when the summer of 2012 rolls around, Deron Williams is G-O-N-E.
By the way, on a final note, I just want to make it clear that as a lifelong fan of the Portland Trail Blazers, I have hated the Utah Jazz and everything to do with them since before I can remember. So my comments in this post are in no way because I'm a Jazz fan or I think Jerry Sloan is a swell guy who is getting the shaft. Jerry Sloan is probably a pretty nice guy when you're hanging around him away from the court, but believe you me, I hated this dude when he was on the sidelines coaching for the Utah Jazz.
[ As NBA changed, Sloan stood his ground -- Yahoo! Sports ]
[ Jerry Sloan to resign as Utah Jazz coach? -- The Big Lead ]
