Sloan let Williams decide return

Jazz coach Jerry Sloan left it up to Deron Williams to decide when he would return from a left groin strain that kept the Jazz's starting point guard from playing in two of Utah's first four games after last month's NBA All-Star Game break.

"I told him, 'I can't make the judgment for you; nobody else can make the judgment. You have to know where you are,' " Sloan said.

It looks like Williams made the right call by skipping a Feb. 26 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, but returning two nights later in Memphis, as he has been healthy for each of the Jazz's last four games, including Monday's win over Charlotte.

There was a time, though, when Sloan once had to tell a player not to go.

It was April of 1989, early in the career of Karl Malone, who wound up missing only 10 games during his 18 seasons in Utah — six due to injury or illness, and four because of league-imposed suspension.

"I told him he wouldn't play ... at the end of the year, because he had a little spur on his ankle," Sloan said. "He said he wanted to play. I said, 'Well, I think it's more important for your career.'

"I thought it was the right thing to do," the Jazz coach added. "But, going back on it, that's a game I caused him to miss — and he didn't miss many. I felt bad about that."

Williams is happy the call was left to him. But he suggested Sloan has been keeping close watch nonetheless.

"He asks me like every couple hours, 'You alright? You cool? You alright?' " Williams said recently. "It's definitely something I think they're worried about, but I think I'm fine ... It's just sore. It's not like I tore something."

Playing in games, Williams added, is the only way to know for sure if he was ready or not.

"Practice is not really the same as a game," he said. "You can't really judge it (from that). It's a different speed, a different intensity, a different everything."

GO FIGURE: Monday marked the 38th anniversary of the 1969 NBA game in which Sloan managed to jack up 36 shots from the field while playing for the Chicago Bulls — that's right, 36 — in a 124-108 win over Milwaukee.

How'd he do it?

"I just kept shooting," said Sloan, not exactly known for being such a prolific shooter in his day.

Sloan made 19 of his 36 attempts, and hit another 5-of-6 from the free-throw line to finish with a career-high 43 points.