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He was an orignal Bull when my father took me to see them... by Scoop80

at the International Ampitheater. I saw him play live several other times and on TV countless times in ensuing seasons. I grew up on da Bulls of Sloan/Walker/Love/Van Lier. Sadly, the Fat Lady repeatedly sang on Dick Motta in the LA Forum in that era.

As a gift, I took my father to a Heat-Jazz game just before Christmas '88. It proved to be their first home win. I suspect that Sloan was the only one who was involved when my father and I attended Bulls and Heat games in their inaugural seasons.

I met him in a hotel lobby in Miami during the '90 NBA ASG w/e. I was w/ a friend from Marist HS in Chicago who was the Mavs' Director of Media Services then. Sloan was very gracious during our brief discussion.

It's ironic that the same franchise for which he couldn't quite win a title as a player* denied his 2 best chances to win 1 as a HC. It would've been nice for him to have picked up a ring SOMEWHERE along the way. It's equally ironic that he died shortly after being a bit player in The Last Dance. The clip from his presser after the 96-54 blowout in the '98 Finals was priceless.

He will be missed.

*The '73 and '75 Bulls both blew double digit Q4 leads at, respectively, LA and Oakland in seasons in which they had a clear title shot.