JERRY ON JORDAN: Sloan had high praise this week for Jordan, whose Chicago Bulls twice beat his Jazz in the NBA Finals — and who dabbles these days as a front-office presence for coach Sam Vincent's Bobcats.

"I don't think he will ever be forgotten, like some people," Sloan said of Jordan, who watched Wednesday's game from a skybox perch. "Most of us, nobody cares, you know. But with him, he's such a high profile guy, and always will be, because of what he did for the league."

ALUMNI UPDATE: According to Thursday's San Francisco Chronicle, ex-Jazz guard Troy Hudson's lingering hip condition has the Golden State Warriors "concerned his NBA career could be over."

"I think Troy's probably done," coach Don Nelson told the newspaper. "I don't think he'll play again. I'm serious. It's unfortunate, but he has a hip problem, and I haven't heard a second opinion, but it doesn't look good for him.

"He's going to have to have a new hip as he gets older, but we're quite concerned about him being able to play again. Right now, we're talking maybe four to six weeks off and then check again. But he has some spurs on his hip and arthritic conditions and it's just not a positive for him."

Said Hudson to the Chronicle: "If it had to end today, I'm pretty happy with 11 years in the NBA when they told me I would never play in the NBA. But I'm positive. I think somebody's going to tell me something I want to hear."

DOWN ON THE FARM: Rather than keep him assigned to the NBA Development League affiliate they share with the Jazz, the Boston Celtics this week waived rookie forward Brandon Wallace.

Before sustaining a wrist injury, the University of South Carolina product averaged 12.5 points and 9.2 rebounds in six games for the Utah Flash.

According to Thursday's Boston Globe, Flash general manager Dave Fredman said he has interest in signing Wallace if another team does not pick him up.

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E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com