This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan discussed Tuesday the Miami Heat's LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh playing for the same team.
Whether it's good or bad that the trio joined up last summer: "People love excitement. They love drama and all that. I'm sure that people don't like it and there's people that thinks that it's terrific. I don't know. It's hard for me to say, because I haven't been in that situation." What it says about the state of modern players: "The way I was brought up and the way I played, that's kind of what I thought. You stick together even though things aren't good. That's kind of like life: We don't always get what we want, and you have to stick to it. Those are great lessons. Although, there's so much money involved now I guess you have to go for the money. I never wanted to be traded when I was in Chicago. I never wanted to be fired when I was in Chicago. [Laughs] Those things happen. I've always been taught to stick it out when things are tough and that sort of thing. But I don't know who's right and wrong. You can argue that until the cows come home.
James, Wade and Chris Bosh joining up: "I'm not sure a lot of those [old] guys would have done that. I think everybody kind of had their area to work in and felt comfortable trying to prove they could win where they were. And Jerry West, he never made a championship trophy for a long time. They added a couple of more guys, Wilt, a couple more guys to their team that made them very good. But I don't think I would have seen him wonder, say 'Do I have to go play with another team?'I think it's an individual thing. You're usually talking about guys that are pretty competitive, whoever they are, whoever it would be. Jabbar he left and went to L.A., whenever he was playing up in Milwaukee. I don't know how it actually all works out. It's hard to say what guys have got inside them. It's sort of a different situation. I did notice when I was with the Olympic team there's always — whatever level you are playing basketball, whether it's this level, grade school level, high school level, college level or pro level — somebody will take the top spot. It's always been interesting to me to watch it. Some guys will accept being down here. Some guys will accept other areas, to try to work to get to the top spot. In a short period of time, those things usually stick out.— Brian T. SmithTwitter: tribjazz