Gregg Popovich Thinks Jerry Sloan Will Coach Again

Pop can’t envision Jerry staying retired for too much longer, citing Sloan’s competitive nature as the reason he’ll be lured back to the NBA’s sidelines. The Express-News has the quotes: “After his Mavericks chased Phil Jackson into retirement a few weeks earlier than planned, Rick Carlisle famously speculated how long the Lakers coach ‘ … can go to Montana and meditate and smoke peyote, or whatever he does there. I don’t know. He’s going to get bored, and I mean that in an endearing manner.’ Gregg Popovich wonders how long another old coach can watch corn grow without feeling the pull of competition. Shouldn’t the Lakers ask Jerry Sloan if he would like to discuss replacing Jackson? ‘I just can’t see him staying on the farm,’ the Spurs coach said. ‘Jerry’s too freakin’ competitive.’ It’s hard to imagine Sloan, who swears he is perfectly content on his Macleansboro, Ill., farm, adapting to the go-go life in La-La Land. Adapting to a coaching role that includes replacing a legend? Easier than shucking an ear of corn. ‘L.A. is very ‘un-Jerry,’ but he’d have the respect, that’s for sure,’ Popovich said. ‘People would listen.'”