Without a question being asked, Sloan said a miscommunication between himself and Kirilenko led to the Russian forward missing practice with the team facing playoff elimination to obtain visas for a family vacation in France this summer.
"There was just a misunderstanding about the time of what we were doing," Sloan said. "So I don't think you should be upset with him. You should be upset with me if you have a problem with it."
"I take responsibility for it," Sloan added. "I didn't do a very good job of communicating. That's it. It's said and done."
Kirilenko said he planned as if the Jazz would practice Thursday at 10 a.m. after returning from Los Angeles from Game 5. Instead, the Jazz pushed back practice to 11:30 a.m. and Kirilenko felt he had to keep an appointment at the embassy in San Francisco.
"It was pretty tough to move it," Kirilenko said.
Kirilenko spoke with Sloan about the situation Friday morning and said he also did so before the game in Los Angeles. "Right now, we figure out it was little misunderstanding," he said, "but everything's cool."
Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said Kirilenko would not be fined for his absence. Trailing 3-2 in the Western Conference semifinals, the Jazz will host the Lakers tonight at EnergySolutions Arena fighting for their playoff lives.
"That was a coach and player thing," O'Connor said. "[Sloan is] very comfortable with it, Andrei's comfortable with it, we're moving on."
Kirilenko said he talked with his teammates, who he said accepted his explanation of the miscommunication. The Jazz players, though, were almost uniform in decline to address the Kirilenko situation after shootaround.
"We had a conversation as a team [Thursday]," Carlos Boozer said. "We knew he had to take care of some business and now he's back, focused, ready to play tonight."
Deron Williams twice responded to Kirilenko questions by saying, "Let's talk about the game tonight." Asked if he considered the issue resolved, Williams said, "I think it is. Everything's fine."
Matt Harpring admitted he was surprised not to see Kirilenko at practice. "Obviously we didn't know and Jerry kind of addressed it," Harpring said. "The situation's resolved and we're moving on."
Kirilenko said he wasn't trying to cause a distraction. "Definitely not," he said. "Everybody understood that. We have a great relationship on the team. Everybody support each other."
The relationship between Sloan and Kirilenko has been closely watched all season, though with no signs of strain, after Kirilenko voiced his desire to leave Utah and frustration at playing for the coach in a series of Russian interviews last summer.
After last year's loss to San Antonio in the Western Conference finals, Williams criticized unnamed teammates for having made vacation plans before the season was over. Kirilenko's absence Thursday triggered flashbacks of that controversy.
Although Sloan took responsibility for the miscommunication, he bristled when asked to explain the specifics involved.
"I don't have to go to that," Sloan said. "I'm not going to make a big deal out of it. I don't think Andrei's making a big deal out of it. I told you I made a mistake, it was a misunderstanding, so we move forward. Now we try to play basketball."
