This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Five years later, the boxscore is almost as interesting as the entire story.
The Chicago Bulls will visit Vivint Smart Home Arena on Monday night, eight days prior to the five-year anniversary of their game in Salt Lake City that altered Jazz history. The fallout of the Jazz's 91-86 loss was the retirement of coach Jerry Sloan the next morning, followed two weeks later by the trade of Deron Williams.
The five years that followed have been a fascinating, frustrating period for the franchise, and I will be delving more into that subject during the upcoming All-Star break. For now, I'm struck by the personal memories of the momentous week — and by the lineups in that Jazz-Bulls game of Feb. 9, 2011.
Among the interesting elements are how much Sloan relied on his starters, how a total of only three players remain with their teams and how close the Jazz came to winning — which may or may not have resolved the issues with Williams that led Sloan to quit.
Jazz starters Andrei Kirilenko, Al Jefferson, Paul Millsap, Raja Bell and Williams played 196 of the 240 total minutes, with brief appearances from Earl Watson, Ronnie Price, C.J. Miles, Kyrylo Fesenko and Gordon Hayward, who played five minutes as a rookie that night and is the only remaining Jazzman.
Kirilenko played 42 minutes. More remarkably, Bell played 36 minutes. Jefferson led the Jazz with 26 points; Millsap posted 20 points and 14 rebounds. Derrick Rose scored 29 points for the Bulls, whose only other current player from that night is forward Taj Gibson.
The Bulls were of considerable interest to me that season, because they featured three former Jazzmen: Carlos Boozer, Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer. In advance of the Bulls' visit, I had spent a weekend in Chicago, watching them play twice and working on a series of stories. With former coach Tom Thibodeau in his first season, the Bulls were a rising team in the Eastern Conference, mostly due to his defensive emphasis.
Ultimately, Thibodeau's defense was responsible for the breakup of the Jazz. At halftime, with Chicago leading 44-41, the argument between Sloan and Williams stemmed from the coach's unhappiness with the point guard's changing some play-calls — a function of the Jazz's offensive frustration.
Sloan informed then-Jazz CEO Greg Miller, who witnessed the halftime exchange, that he intended to quit. Miller scheduled a meeting the next morning, hoping Sloan would reconsider the move, but Sloan stuck with it and Tyrone Corbin was promoted to replace him.
I remember how Brian T. Smith, then The Tribune's Jazz beat writer, figured something major had occurred, judging by Sloan's demeanor in his delayed postgame interview. Right then and there, though, the three of us working that night — Smith, Steve Luhm and I — couldn't pin down the specifics. And then the news hit the next day.
Who knows what may have happened if the Jazz had won the game? As it was, their 11-of-21 free-throw shooting, Korver's clutch 3-pointer and Boozer's steal, ironically enough, enabled the Bulls to secure the victory. Chicago moved to 35-16; the Jazz fell to 31-23 and have never stood eight games above .500 since that night.
Twitter: @tribkurt