On Tuesday, the Utah Jazz announced that the team will honor former head coach Jerry Sloan with a special tribute patch that will be worn on the team’s jerseys and warm-ups during the remainder of the 2019-20 season in Orlando.
The patch features Sloan’s total wins, 1,223, during his 23 seasons as head coach of the Jazz. The patch will appear for the first time on July 23 in a scrimmage game against the Phoenix Suns in Orlando.
“Coach Jerry Sloan will forever be in the hearts of the Utah Jazz organization and fans everywhere, and we feel it is only fitting to honor him in this way,” said Greg Miller, member of the NBA Board of Governors and Director of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies. “His contributions to our Jazz family and communities are a defining part of our franchise history and we look forward to seeing 1,223 on the jerseys of our players in Orlando as a nod to his legacy.”
In the following 2020-21 season, the Jazz will wear a commemorative black strip with “1223” on it.
Sloan, 78, passed away in May 2020 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
Sloan finished his coaching career with the third-most wins in NBA history (currently forth after Gregg Popovich passed him) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. Sloan was also the longest-tenured coach with one franchise in all of major professional sports at the time of his retirement.
You can purchase a jersey patch for $12.23 at the Jazz team store both in-store and online. Proceeds from the patch will benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease.