Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, former legendary head coach of the Utah Jazz, Jerry Sloan "is dying" as he battles Parkinson's and dementia, reported Gordon Monson of the Salt Lake Tribune who learnt it from some close to the Sloan family.

According to Monson, Sloan is currently "frail" and "physically and mentally limited," though he is still trying to communicate with family and friends when he can, the 77-year-old needs 24-hour care and can not return to the Vivint Smart Home Arena to watch any Jazz game in his condition.

Sloan disclosed his illness with the Tribune in 2016. "I don't want people feeling sorry for me," said Sloan when his tremors, hushed voice and other symptoms were already noticeable to others.

Before Sloan became one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, he had been famous for tough defense during his career with the Chicago Bulls. Having been known as "the Original Bull", Sloan had his No. 4 jersey retired by the Bulls and that was the first number retired in the history of the team.

Sloan became the head coach of the Jazz in the middle of the 1988-89 season and, in the following 23 seasons, led the team drop 1,127 victories – both NBA records that were only broken by Greg Popovich recently. In all of the three seasons between 1995 and 1998, Sloan brought 60+wins to the Jazz and took the team to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, only to be defeated by Michael Jordan and his Bulls.

"The younger guys might not know who Jerry Sloan is but maybe they know who Karl Malone is and that's what he meant. He made me who I am," said Karl Malone to Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News. Under Sloan's instructions, Malone and John Stockton both made the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and became the best screen play partners in NBA history.