In the southeast corner of Vivint Arena, home of the Utah Jazz, stand two famous statues. They are Jazz legends Karl Malone and John Stockton . Fans traveling to Salt Lake City usually come here to take a photo, which is a way for them to pay tribute to their greatness. Nowadays, more and more Jazz fans think it is time to erect a third statue next to the arena!
Last month, Jazz fan Chad Crowell launched an online petition on the Internet to build a statue for Jerry Sloan. Today, the petition has more than 2,500 signatures.
Sloan himself did not know about this petition, and he is still fighting Alzheimer's disease today. In mid-July, there were reports that the Jazz coach was dying.
Since Sloan retired in 2011, there have been no interruptions in the proposal to build a statue of the old coach. The veteran coach coached the Jazz for 23 seasons and witnessed the ups and downs of this team.
In these 23 seasons, the Jazz reached the playoffs 19 times. Sloan's iron-blooded style has also been generally recognized by fans. Today, there is a special pennant flying over the Jazz's home court, which reads "Jerry Sloan's 1,223 Jazz wins, 1988-2011." Sloan led the Jazz to 1,127 regular season victories and 96 playoff victories, for a total of 1,223 victories.
The achievements of Malone and Stockton are also inseparable from the coaching of Coach Sloan. In an interview with local media in Salt Lake City not long ago, Malone said: "Today's young people may not know who Jerry Sloan is, but maybe they still know who Karl Malone is. That's what he means, who he is. "It made me."
Jazz team reporter Brad Rock said that Sloan is too low-key and he doesn't like to attract public attention, but this is the last thing that fans and management can do for him. The coach's resume deserves a statue, even if he doesn't win a championship. Now, it depends on whether the Jazz management is willing to comply with the wishes of the fans.
