LeBron James and Dwyane Wade controlled their own free-agent destinies last summer. Carmelo Anthony is engineering his own trade as we speak. Chris Paul and eventually Dwight Howard may go on to do the same between now and 2012.
And maybe, just maybe, Deron Williams played a role in the coaching change that transpired Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Rumors have swirled over the last 24 hours that late Wednesday night, in the midst of the Utah Jazz's tough loss to the Chicago Bulls, a heated argument broke out between D-Will and his 23-year veteran head coach, Jerry Sloan. The argument was supposedly the boiling-over of years of resentment between the two, and as a result, that Wednesday night loss will be remembered as Sloan's last game.
This episode will only fan the flames on the argument that NBA superstars are more spoiled now than ever. The needs of the fans, the organization and even America's longest-tenured head coach mean nothing anymore — it's all about the star. Williams and his coach collided, and only the one with the $70 million max contract survived.
But this argument, while clearly understandable and easy for the public to get behind, isn't entirely fair. We don't know the whole story of what happened between Sloan, Williams and everyone else in that Jazz locker room on Friday night, and we don't know the whole story of how the relationship between coach and star evolved over their six years together.
What we do know is that Sloan won 1,127 games and earned 19 playoff berths during his time in Utah, and he walked away Thursday with his 69th birthday just weeks away. Some of the world's most successful people have retired younger.
Maybe it was just Sloan's time.
No one spent more time in one city than Jerry Sloan. No one won more games with one team. No one gave more to one franchise.
No one deserved more than Sloan to walk away from the game on his own terms. And however naive it might be, it would be nice to believe that's exactly what Sloan did.
After all the wins, all the deep playoff runs and all the memories, it would be a shame for Jerry Sloan's lasting legacy to be a lost power struggle with a star player. If anyone deserves better than that, it's him.
Did Deron Williams play a role in Jerry Sloan walking away from coaching? Share your thoughts below.
