SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - After 23 seasons, Hall of Fame coach Jerry Sloan had only one bit of advice for successor Ty Corbin.

"Be yourself," Sloan said on Thursday after announcing he was stepping down after 1,127 wins with the Jazz because he didn't have the energy any more. Corbin, a former Jazz player, already began meeting players and will coach his first game on Friday night against the Phoenix Suns.

Around the league, the shock remained.

"I'm too shocked to have a reaction," Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "It caught us all off guard ... He's been there like this rock and all of a sudden the rock is gone. It's like your franchise moved or something. I don't know. It's just strange."

Miami Heat star LeBron James had a similar reaction.

"Man, it's gonna be crazy and weird seeing anyone besides Jerry Sloan walking the sidelines for the Utah Jazz!" James tweeted. "Jerry Sloan is the Utah Jazz. Wow."

Sloan was the longest tenured coach in any of the four major sports. His resignation came just two weeks after the second-longest tenured professional coach, Jeff Fisher, parted ways with the Tennessee Titans after a 6-10 season.

"I had a feeling this time was the time to move on," an emotional Sloan said during a Thursday afternoon news conference. "(That's) a long time to be in one organization. Again, I've been blessed. Today is a new day. When I get this over with, I'll feel better. My time is up and it's time to move on."

Longtime assistant Phil Johnson also resigned, surprising even Sloan during their postgame chat on Wednesday night with general manager Kevin O'Connor.

"I came with him and I'll leave with him," the 69-year-old Johnson said on Thursday.

The two men agreed to sleep on their decisions on Wednesday night at the request of team owners and O'Connor, who said he "begged" Sloan not to resign.

Nothing changed in the morning and Sloan reported sleeping better than he has in six weeks. Asked what he'll do now, he didn't know, and said he expected to be a "dizzy duck" for a while.

Jazz CEO Greg Miller also said he tried to talk Sloan out of retiring.

"I want to make it clear that nobody pushed Jerry or Phil out," Miller said. "I loved and respected Jerry for as long as I can remember ... I will miss him but benefit from the things he taught me for the rest of my life."

Team officials made it clear Corbin is not an interim coach.

O'Connor also called false reports that star guard Deron Williams told the team to choose between him or Sloan.

"That's not fair to Deron," O'Connor said. "That puts him in such a bad light. Whoever started that rumor is either uninformed or a liar. I would say the latter."

Williams told 1320-KFAN radio he and Sloan clashed at halftime on Wednesday but insisted there is no truth to the rumors he forced the Hall of Fame coach out.

"We had a disagreement," Williams told the station. "I've seen him have worse ones with other players. Jerry's very fiery. I am, too. Sometimes we clash on things. I would never force coach Sloan out of Utah. He's meant more to this town, more to this organization than I have by far. I would have asked out of Utah first."

Willams said he and Sloan are "stubborn" and clashed because they both wanted to win.

"Not many come into this league and can play for a Hall of Fame coach their first six years," Williams told the station. "I got a chance to learn from the best. We won a lot of basketball games because of coach Sloan."

Associated Press

(China Daily 02/12/2011 page16)