Written by Steve Luhm at Salt Lake City Tribune
In his immaculate, memorabilia-filled home office, Jerry Sloan sits in a chair beneath a framed handwritten letter from President Barack Obama.
He smiles.
“I’m not looking for publicity,” he tells a reporter. “But I feel I have to talk straight to people so they know what’s going on.”
So here’s the news, as straightforwardly as Sloan would deliver it himself.
The former Jazz coach and Hall of Famer — the coach with the third most wins in NBA history — is battling Parkinson’s disease and a form of dementia called Lewy body dementia.
The prognosis is unkind.
There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, although, in some cases, medication can “markedly improve symptoms.” But in Sloan’s case, the symptoms continue to progress.
Lewy body dementia is a neurological disorder that manifests itself as difficulty with memory, problem solving, planning and analytical thinking. While the numbers differ, Lewy Body Association says about 1.4 million Americans have the disease.
‘It was life and death once’ • “You try to be optimistic,” says Tammy Sloan, seated next to her husband. “But it is what it is. Jerry’s had a wonderful life — the best life you can possibly imagine. But this is not going to reverse itself and go away.”
There are good days, however.
“When a basketball game comes on TV,” Tammy Sloan said, “he knows everything that’s ever happened.”
“It was life and death once,” her husband noted.
Last week, Judy Adams, a former Utah Jazz executive assistant, organized a surprise party for Sloan’s 74th birthday. A handful of close friends attended, including Frank Layden, who hired Sloan as one of his assistant Jazz coaches in 1984.
“Every day is a different day,” Tammy Sloan said. “Some days he’s fine, and some days he’s not so fine. But at that birthday party, he was as normal as he’s ever been. … He was in prime form, telling stories.”
To continue reading this story click here.
