Mr. Bull: Jerry Sloan
The “tough-as-nails” guard helped establish a winning culture for the expansion Chicago Bulls.
Throughout the offseason, the team at Bulls Confidential is going to reveal our picks for the top 25 best players in Chicago Bulls franchise history. We are measuring overall impact on the organization, community, and how they impacted their team. Follow along on Twitter by searching #BC25.
10. Dennis Rodman
9. Luol Deng
8. Jimmy Butler
5. Bob Love
4. Derrick Rose
3. Jerry Sloan
Jerry Sloan was the first player in Chicago Bulls history to have his jersey retired, and is affectionately known as “The Original Bull”. He grew up 15 miles south of tiny McLeansboro, Illinois. Sloan was a standout player at McLeansboro high school. He went on to Evansville University where he was a double-double machine. The hard-nosed guard averaged 15.7 points and 13.1 rebounds per game over his college career. He was selected by the Baltimore Bullets with the fourth pick in the 1965 draft. Though he was a high draft pick, Sloan didn’t recive much playing time with the Bullets. He was given a fresh start in the form of the 1966 NBA expansion draft, where Sloan was selected by the new Chicago franchise: the Bulls.
The identity of the Chicago Bulls soon became intertwined with Sloan’s physical playing style. In his initial Bulls season Sloan averaged 17.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game and helped the team to their first playoff berth. Unfortunately, a championship eluded Sloan in Chicago. He had numerous playoff battles with some of the more impressive guards in league history. He stood toe-to-toe with the likes of Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, “Sweet” Lou Hudson, Oscar Robertson, and Lenny Wilkens just to name a few.
The furthest Sloan made into the playoffs with Chicago was back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances in the ’74 and ’75 seasons. In 1975, the team lost a memorable seven-game series to the Golden State Warriors. The Bulls four-point loss in game seven showed how Sloan and the Bulls were going to make things tough even in defeat, as Hall of Famer Rick Barry shot 8-of-23 from the field. That stood as Sloan’s last big moment as a player, and he retired the following season due to persistent knee problems.
Sloan worked as a scout and assistant coach for Chicago before he was promoted to head coach in 1979. His best team was the 45-win team in 1981, where six different Bulls players were scoring in double figures. Sloan only coached the Bulls for three seasons, and was fired after going 19–32 to start off the 1982 season. In classic Bulls fashion, the franchise got rid of Sloan right as he was on his way to becoming one of the most respected coaches in league history. After his dismissal from Chicago he joined the Utah Jazz franchise as a scout and never looked back. Sloan took over as head coach of Utah for the ’89 season and held the position until he stepped down in 2011. In his 26 seasons of NBA coaching he became the third-winningest coach of all-time. Along the way he helped shape the careers of Hall of Famers Karl Malone and John Stockton, and made two NBA Finals appearances.
Jerry Sloan is at this point best known as the long-time coach of the Utah Jazz. He even works with franchise today as a consultant. But as a player, Sloan was a six-time All-Defensive team selection and a two-time All-Star as a member of the Chicago Bulls. And even with his legacy being tied to his coaching days in Salt Lake City, Sloan’s early coaching days with Bulls help set the foundation for his historic 1,221 wins.
The Chicago Bulls are a franchise — in their best times — known for their ability to grind out victories when the going gets tough. The franchise now has six championships to it’s name and also drafted a player some might say is the best to ever play the game. But the point is that none of that would’ve been possible without the Chicago Bulls franchise thriving in early years.
There can be debates about who is the greatest Chicago Bull of all-time, but there is no question who is “the Original Bull”. Jerry Sloan left it all on the floor every night for an expansion team, quickly helping shape a new identity for what would eventually become one of the most popular basketball teams in the world. And for that, Sloan gets the spot on our list as the third best Chicago Bull of all time.
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