Former Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls coach Jerry Sloan revealed on Wednesday that he is suffering from Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.
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Parkinson’s progressively attacks the nervous system and affects movement.
Sloan coached four years with the Bulls, the first as an assistant, after a knee injury forced him to retire in 1976.
Sloan, 74, told the Tribune that that he still walks four miles per day and that “I don’t want people feeling sorry for me”. It develops gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Among its other symptoms, the disorder can manifest itself as tremors, stiffness and/or slowing of movement. “On behalf of the Miller Family, the Jazz organization and Jazz fans everywhere, we send Jerry and his wife Tammy our love and best wishes”, the statement reads. There is no known cure, but symptoms can be controlled by medication.
LBD is an umbrella term for two related diagnoses. Lewy body dementia causes a decline in mental abilities.
Having seen the effects of Lewy Body Dementia on those who suffer from the condition and the impact it has on their families and friends in my own experience, I can attest to the way it changes the lives of those involved.
He made a decision to go public with because the Parkinson’s symptoms, which include tremors, a hushed voice and sleeplessness, have progressed to the point where people have started to notice.
The Jazz, whom he last coached in 2010-11, won Western Conference titles under Sloan in 1997 and ’98, but lost to the Bulls in the Finals each time.
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Sloan is the third all-time winningest coach in National Basketball Association history, behind Don Nelson (1,335 victories) and Lenny Wilkens (1,332).
