The Utah Jazz have had their fair share of painful memories. Chief among them was the Jerry Sloan and Deron Williams infamous fallout in 2011. Though many have wondered what exactly happened that led to both leaving the Jazz within a week of each other, Williams recently gave his side of the story, thus re-opening a painful Jazz memory.
Yesterday, Williams appeared on "Out the Mud," where he delved into what happened between him and Sloan that ultimately led to the Jazz coach's immediate resignation.
Deron Williams says Jerry Sloan decided to quit at halftime because Deron tweaked a play & Jerry said to him in “you wanna f****** coach this team again huh?” pic.twitter.com/hK9PY91mk7
— 2Cool2Blog (@2Cool2Blog) February 20, 2026
Even with the success they had together, it was well-publicized that Williams and Sloan never got along quite well. It seemed clear that one was gonna have to go, but it shocked everyone when it turned out the Jazz lost both when the dust settled.
For the record, Williams' story here has been known for some time. Infamous Jazz alum Gordon Hayward was a rookie that season, and he had a pretty clear memory of what happened, though when he shared what he remembered a few years ago, his recollection wasn't exactly the same as Williams's.
The Jazz were trending downward. Their original core around Williams (Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, Andrei Kirilenko) was either gone or starting to show its age, though Paul Millsap only got better with a bigger role. Still, though, it is hard to look back and realize the worst-case scenario happened.
At least Deron Williams made amends with Sloan & the Jazz
Williams did not leave Utah on the best of terms, and the vitriol from the Jazz fanbase let him know it every time he returned to the Great Salt Lake. However, time heals all wounds, so, to be fair, after his playing days wrapped up, the former Jazz star has mended some fences to the point that some wonder whether Williams should have his number retired in Utah.
That's a whole different discussion, but all things considered, Williams has gone out of his way to gush about living in Utah. Better yet, when it was said and done, he and Sloan buried the hatchet not too long after their falling out.
But this all still comes down to one simple question when the topic of the D-Will & Sloan fallout: why did it have to end like that? It really shouldn't have, as it really set the Jazz back for a while that even when things started looking up with the stars who came after Williams, like Hayward, Rudy Gobert, and Donovan Mitchell, they've never quite brought Utah back to the same level Williams did.
The Jazz have moved on and there's no longer any animosity towards D-Will, but that doesn't make this kind of Jazz history any easier to look back on.